Fire of Unknown Origin
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: Lisbon learns that a fire in Northern California has left Kara Lisbon, a seven year old second cousin she's never met, an orphan. Title from the Blue Oyster Cult song.
1. Fire of Unknown Origin

**I've been wanting to write this since the spring. But I didn't get around to it because I had my novella for The Big Bang Theory I had to finish, and then vacation, job…you know, that darned real life that can really get in the way of important things sometimes. So yeah, here it is. This fic was inspired from a confession made on Tumblr saying that if Lisbon had kids, she'd probably be a great mother. I agreed, and then started thinking about how she's not likely to ever have that opportunity. So I wrote a situation where she would.**

**As usual, I don't own anything except for characters that I created.**

Lisbon hung up the phone and rested her hands in front of her on the desk, feeling the cool desktop against her palms. The words of the social worker rang in her ears as if she'd just awoken from a dream that was refusing to fade from memory.

A fire, and unexplained fire, had destroyed nearly a thousand acres in Northern California. Lisbon had known that. But she hadn't paid much attention otherwise, her brothers and Annie didn't live there and there were too many victims for there to be individual news stories on each one. So she hadn't known that one of the fifty killed had been husband and father Dale Lisbon, a cousin that she'd met only once, when she was eleven. Dale's wife of nine years, Mara, had also perished. What the social worker was calling about, however, was that their seven year old daughter had taken to a local lake with one of her friends and the family's old dog. She had survived.

The social worker wanted to place Kara in her second cousin's care. "There is no other family in the area," she had told Lisbon. "The girl's maternal grandmother also perished in the fire."

"Oh my God," Lisbon had managed, putting her free hand to her mouth.

The worker was to the point. "If you are unable to take temporary custody of her, we will place her in foster care."

Lisbon wanted to ask what about Tommy? What about James? But she had a feeling they'd already checked into them as well. And she knew neither of them, or their other brother, was in a position to take on a child.

Of course, she wasn't exactly in that position either.

The agent drummed her fingers on the desk as she thought. She worked long hours. She barely slept five hours a night. She wasn't in a relationship and hadn't taken care of kids since she'd struggled to control her brothers a quarter of a century ago.

But, Lisbon reasoned, as she drummed her fingers on the desk, she did have some personal time she could take. And little Kara, the orphan that Lisbon had never seen, was family. More family than Jane was, more family than her team was, and she sure had done all sorts of things for them.

Lisbon knew what it was like to be an orphan and not feel loved by anyone. She firmly believed that every kid needed a responsible adult in their life. Every kid needed someone to care about them. And Lisbon was forty. She didn't have kids of her own and seeing Hightower's kids and Annie in the past few years had made her more and more aware that her chances to be a mother were growing slimmer by the day. She worked long hours. She wasn't in a relationship. She'd neglected her maternal side since her brothers were old enough to fend for themselves, and every time she thought she'd made peace with herself on this topic, Hightower's kids would show up unexpectedly at the CBI, or Annie would show up at a crime scene, or she would find out that her ex fiancé had kids and those feelings of longing would come up again. But she would always lock them down, the same way she did with anger or sadness. Maybe it wasn't healthy, but it was how she handled things. Because she didn't have any other choice.

But this time she did. This time there was a little girl out there, Kara, Kara _Lisbon_, who needed her. She was family, and she was alone. And when she got older she might try to find out if she had relatives. She might find that she had an older cousin living down state from where she'd spent the first seven years of her life. And maybe she'd wonder why her cousin Teresa, who was old enough and, as a cop, surely knew about her, had let her go into foster care.

And, of course, it might be Lisbon's last chance to let her maternal side do what she longed to every time she saw or spent any time with kids.

She knew there was some reason why, shortly before hanging up the phone, she had spoken into it the words "absolutely. I'm working a case, but I'll call you back after work."


	2. It Won't Be Like This For Long

**New chapter! I stayed up late to update tonight since I'll be going out of town again and won't have access to the internet.**

**I own Kara. Everything else belongs to CBS.**

Lisbon slept less than five hours that night. When she finally got home she paced for a while before realizing that the next day she'd be going to pick up a seven year old girl who was going to be living with her. She had one bedroom, a junk room that she wasn't proud of, but must be pretty damn good at hiding since Jane didn't even know, and a bathroom that she kept spotless because something about the ones at the CBI bothered her.

She could manage for a while without making any huge changes to her house. She could sleep on the couch, she certainly had many nights when Jane had vanished following his blow up with Wainwright, when her worry prevented her from sleeping and she paced until she ended up collapsing on the couch for a mere hour of shut eye. Little Kara could sleep in her room. No problem.

Then there was the entertainment factor. Apparently this girl's house had been burnt to a crisp, she probably didn't have any toys, or security blanket, or anything with her that she could hang on to. She was about to be thrown into a new house with a stranger, and nothing would be familiar. Lisbon figured that Kara would probably withdraw into herself and that it would take time and patience to get her to begin functioning as a seven year old should. Lisbon remembered James, bruises still healing from the fists of their father and heart still healing from the death of their mother, withdrawing from his sister's attempted embrace and locking himself in his room, while Tommy too didn't want any comfort from his sister, being just a bit younger than her, taller, and feeling like he had to handle it the way a boy should. And in those cases, Lisbon had been familiar to them, the one who'd pushed them into her bedroom and locked the door when their father came home in a drunken rage, the one who had gotten as many bruises trying to protect her siblings as she had as the original target in one of their father's flashes of anger, and the one who had provided for them once the four Lisbon children had become orphans.

Kara wouldn't know Lisbon as that person. She'd know her as just another adult trying to take the place of the parents that she no doubt loved.

Unless…

The thought stopped Lisbon cold. _Unless Kara's father had a drinking problem just like hers had. _Alcoholism, there was some research saying it could be genetic. Even though her father had been driven to the bottle, there was a chance he was genetically predisposed for the problem and that Kara's father could have succumbed to the same downward spiral. Had Kara been abused the same way Lisbon and her brothers had?

Lisbon dropped down on the couch and put her head in her hands.

"Hello, Lisbon, my name is Sally Walker," said the big boned brunette who extended her hand toward the CBI agent. Lisbon accepted the handshake, noting that Sally gave a firm, confidant shake. A good woman to be in social work, she thought, proud that that was not a trait she had picked up from Jane.

"Nice to meet you," Lisbon said, giving her a nod. "I apologize for being a few minutes late. I had to make sure my fridge had food in it."

Because Lisbon was a cop, Sally laughed instead of questioning the reliability of the woman in front of her to feed a child. "Come right with me, Kara is in one of the waiting rooms. She just got checked by the doctor again and he said she's perfectly healthy. I'm releasing her into your custody today, and on Friday we expect you in to sign the paperwork giving you guardianship for the time being."

"And what happens after that?" Lisbon asked. She wasn't entirely familiar with this process; she only knew what she had to know for cases.

"Then the judge will decide if you are fit to keep her in your home, and if you wish, you would be granted custody. If the judge finds you unfit or you declare yourself unable to take care of her, we will place her in foster care or look to other potential guardians. But unless you're suddenly arrested or something, she's yours for the next month. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes," Lisbon said in a voice that she didn't totally recognize. "Absolutely."

"All right," Sally said, leading Lisbon up to a door and putting a hand on it. "She's right in here. We try to turn them over to the adults in a neutral area as to avoid more trauma." She opened the door to reveal five adults and five children in an area not unlike the waiting room at a pediatrician's office. A couple of toys were on the ground – two small boys that appeared related were having a tug – of – war with a cheap toy giraffe – and the other four children sat, or in the case of one girl, slept, quietly beside the women that were watching them.

Lisbon knew instantly which one was her second cousin. The girl was wearing a light yellow long sleeved shirt and dark gray sweat pant capris. She had her hands folded and was looking away, but Lisbon recognized a few facial features as well as the dark hair that reached her shoulders and crossed her forehead in straight bangs.

Lisbon felt as if she was looking in a mirror from thirty years ago. Even if her mind was exaggerating how much Kara looked like she did as a child, there was no mistaking that this was a Lisbon.

Sally led the CBI agent over to the chair and knelt down near the girl. "Hey, Kara," she said.

Kara looked up. "Hi," she said, looking at Sally and then at Lisbon.

"Kara, this is Teresa," Sally told her. "She's going to take you to her house to stay for a little while. Okay?"

The little girl grabbed a black plastic backpack sitting on the chair next to her and stood up. "Okay," she said, looking up at Lisbon. "Hi."

"Hi there," Lisbon said, feeling a smile spread across her face. She dropped down on her knees next to the girl. "What's in the backpack?"

"_Charlotte's Web_," the girl said. "And a yo – yo. Can you yo – yo?"

"No," Lisbon said. "But maybe you can teach me."

She nodded, pressing her lips together. "Okay."

By the time another quarter hour had passed, Lisbon and Kara were at Lisbon's car. The older cousin opened the door to the backseat. "Can I sit behind you?" Kara asked.

"You can sit wherever you want," Lisbon said. "As long as it's in the back seat."

"My mom told me that I can't sit in the front until I'm one hundred pounds," Kara told Lisbon.

"That's a very good rule," Lisbon said. Kara nodded, climbing over to the seat and setting her backpack next to her, buckling herself in and then drawing the seat belt for the middle seat over the backpack. Lisbon climbed into the front and began driving.

And then the silence came. Lisbon, unsure how to keep the conversation going, did her usual coping – with – potential –awkwardness method of focusing on the road. When she looked into the rearview mirror, she saw Kara with her head against the window, gazing blankly outside, biting her lower lip, seeming as out of touch with the rest of the world as she had been when they'd first entered the room, before Sally had gotten her talking.

Lisbon let out a quiet sigh as it became clear to her what she had to do to make this as easy as possible for Kara – keep her talking. Keep her engaged. Allow as little time as possible for thinking about why she was going to a stranger's home. And when her mind did drift to that unpleasant topic, remind her that the pain of losing wouldn't last forever.


	3. Temporary Home

**So sorry it's been a while since I updated, and so sorry that it's a rather short chapter. I'm extremely busy and the next chunk is longer so I didn't want to fit it in with this chunk. No, there's not a lot of action yet, but buildup is necessary, and when it's a fic with an emotionally damaged child, it's important to go slow. ;)**

**And I still only own Kara.**

Lisbon was halfway home before she remembered the paperwork that she'd left in her office. Paperwork that she promised she'd work on from home. "Dammit," she said, slamming her palm against the top of the steering wheel before she remembered that a seven year old was in the back seat. Fortunately, Kara hadn't seemed to notice.

"Kara?" Lisbon said, putting on her turn signal and merging into the left turn lane. Kara's eyes met hers in the rear view mirror. "I'm going to have to stop at work and pick up some papers, okay?"

"Okay," she said, shifting her weight again. Lisbon didn't blame her for not being talkative. She was a new orphan who had just been thrown in with someone she'd never met. She was alone. Of course she was going to be a little quiet.

"Hey, look," Lisbon said. "I know your life's been really, really crazy lately, but I'm going to do my best to make sure that you're not always wondering where you're going to be the next day, or who you're going to be with, okay?"

"I've been with six different people in the past week," Kara said.

"Well, you're only going to be with one from…" Lisbon stopped the _now on _from leaving her lips. It was too early – far too early – to be making a statement like that. Too many promises to someone she barely knew, when she didn't even know how she was going to handle getting the paperwork. She certainly couldn't leave Kara in the car, but she didn't want to parade the girl around the CBI either. Too many uniformed police officers were in there, and Kara had seen enough of them this past week; not to mention she wasn't ready for her team to know yet that she was playing Foster Mom to her second cousin.

She realized she hadn't finished her sentence, but Kara was looking out the window at a lady walking her dog, so Lisbon let it go. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, dialing a number of the person she was dreading finding out about Kara the least.

* * *

Upon reaching the CBI, Lisbon pulled into a parking space near the door and turned around to smile at Kara. "This is where I work," she told her.

"Do you have a badge?" Kara wanted to know.

"Yes I do."

"Can I see it?" Kara asked, sitting up and looking more interested than she had all afternoon.

Lisbon handed her the badge and Kara turned it over in her hands. "Do you guys catch a lot of people?" she asked. "That do bad stuff to people?"

"We catch a lot of bad guys," Lisbon said, reaching to take the badge back from Kara's outstretched hand. "Me and my team catch more bad guys than any other team in the state, in fact."

Kara smiled. "That's cool. Are the other cops your friends?"

"I'm pretty close with some of them," she said. "Yeah."

"My dad always said that if you didn't like your co – workers you'd be an unhappy soul," Kara said.

"Boss."

Lisbon jumped and whirled her head around, looking at the driver's window. "Cho," she said.

The agent looked back at her, unblinking, until Lisbon realized she had to roll down her window to obtain the paperwork from him. She did so, reaching out and taking the folder. "Thanks, Cho," she said. She motioned back behind her. "This is Kara. Kara, this is Kimball."

"Hi, Mister Kimball," Kara said politely.

Cho gave her a nod. "Hey. How's it going?"

Kara seemed to understand that the question was rhetorical.

"So how long are you out for, boss?" Cho asked, leaning on the car window and peering in. "Jane keeps talking to me about pineapple."

"Is that a lead?" Lisbon asked, hoping that Jane wasn't simply antagonizing Cho by brining up the dreaded fruit.

Cho still hadn't blinked. "No."

"If he becomes too much to handle, cuff him to my desk," Lisbon said. "You have my permission. But make sure the drawers are locked first."

"Okay." Cho straightened up. "But when we did that today he just found clever ways of picking the locks."

Lisbon stared at him a second. "Okay," she said, making a shoo – ing motion with her hand. "I don't even want to know. You're the leader until I get back, all right?"

Cho nodded. "Will do."

* * *

"I have a question," Kara said when they were about halfway between the CBI and Lisbon's house.

"Sure," the older cousin responded, looking in the mirror and feeling encouraged that Kara had volunteered a conversation.

"If I'm going to live with you for a little while, am I going to be meeting your other friends?"

"You'll meet them," Lisbon said, "eventually." If she was honest with herself, she was terrified about Rigsby, Van Pelt, and especially Jane finding out about Kara. Each for different reasons. But they'd have to at some point. And if Kara wanted to meet them, even if it was only as a way to keep her mind off of her dead parents, Lisbon would make it happen sooner rather than later.

But first she had to get the girl settled in.


	4. Alone

**New chapter! Kara isn't quite meeting the gang yet, we've got to establish her relationship with Lisbon before that, so that's what this chapter will discuss.**

**As usual, I only own Kara. Everything else belongs to Bruno and CBS.**

"This is your house?" Kara said as Lisbon pulled in the driveway.

"Yep," Lisbon said, trying to sound sweet and not sure if it was coming across or not. She briefly wished that Kara was older so it'd be easier for them to talk. Then she remembered some of the kids she'd come across in her line of work and thanked God that Kara was not a teenager. "Come on, I'll grab the bag."

Retrieving the small duffel of Kara's belongings from the back of the car, Lisbon rested it on her knee to unlock the door. Kara followed her inside, looking around. Lisbon noticed how intently she was taking in the room before her. It was almost as if she was trying to absorb Lisbon's entire life by studying what was where in her home. It was so much like Jane Lisbon almost thought that Kara was _his _second cousin, and then Kara looked straight at her and the agent was once again hit by how similar the two of them looked.

"Okay, you're mine," Lisbon said aloud.

Kara frowned. "I'm your what?"

Lisbon was startled at the confirmation that she'd said that out loud. "I didn't mean that in the sense that would be saying that…" she trailed off, confused as to what her own voice was saying. "I can tell that you're a Lisbon," she said. "You've got the face."

Kara smiled. "Daddy always told me to be proud to be a Lisbon," she said. "He said we were all something else."

The wording made Lisbon laugh. "Well, that's certainly true," she said. "We are." She smiled down at Kara. "Want me to show you around?"

"Okay," Kara said. "But I don't like closets."

Lisbon cocked her head, half amused and half confused. "Well then we won't spend too much time on the closets. How does that sound?"

Kara grinned.

* * *

_Well, that didn't go the way I'd expected,_ Lisbon thought as Kara curled up on the chair. The little girl seemed content, considering, and appeared to have no notion of the internal havoc she had just wreaked on her guardian. Lisbon dropped down onto the couch near the girl and tried to focus her mind.

First, it had been the living room. Kara had taken one look at the couches and chairs and said "this is better than my friend Sophie's house. All their chairs were always filled up with her momma's friends. We had to sit on the floor."

Suddenly, Lisbon was aware of just how empty the room was. She wasn't in denial about living alone or anything, but usually she enjoyed being able to stretch out on the couch, or, if her back was bothering her, lay on the floor and rest her feet up on the chair. But when Kara put it like that, it just became glaringly obvious that Lisbon, when she came home, came home alone. She didn't have time for a social life or a relationship, and this couch and those chairs were always there for the company that wasn't around. And Lisbon felt a pang of jealousy for Sophie's momma, who had a family and friends surrounding her all the time.

Of course, Sophie's house was probably burned down and the aforementioned mother might be dead. As guilty as Lisbon felt about using that thought to make her feel better, she went with it.

Then came a similar thing in the kitchen. Lisbon didn't have a big table with chairs all around it like Britney's mother did. There weren't as many dishes drying off as at Alyson's house. To be fair, Lisbon walked in to a few of the comments, since she wanted to keep the conversation going. And she knew she was taking what Kara was telling her a little too personally. But she couldn't help it. She'd never paid attention before to how much about her lifestyle – no kitchen table, the one bedroom, the pillow in the center of the bed (which Kara hadn't noticed, but by the time that they'd reached her room, Lisbon was picking up on every little detail) – made it glaringly obvious that this was a woman with no family. And the many seats in the living room that weren't filled, the way she'd left up the old picture frames even though they weren't her memories in them, showed that the couch wasn't all that was empty.

After the house tour, Kara had crawled onto the chair and declared it comfortable, curling up and closing her eyes. Lisbon headed into the kitchen, not sure what she planned on doing in there, but feeling the need to keep busy. She lasted less than twenty minutes before going back out into the living room and sitting on the couch.

She couldn't get over the fact that the little girl sleeping in the chair was hers. At least for a little while. So many times she'd seen children who had suffered losses, or were going through other hard times, and she'd felt gravitated toward them, but so often she wasn't able to do anything other than offer them a smile, or a referral to a place where they might get help. People with hurt in their pasts had always been her weakness. And finally there was someone that needed love and support that she was allowed to give love and support to.

Kara shifted a little bit in her sleep. Then she made a somewhat distressed sound and opened her eyes, sitting up and looking away for a moment. She looked back at Lisbon, gave her a tight lipped smile, and then leaned back in the chair.

"Are you okay?" Lisbon asked gently.

Kara's voice cracked. "They're going to catch who set that fire, right?" she asked.

Lisbon hesitated, and then scooted closer to her and reaching out her arms, not outstretching them, but providing a welcome should Kara respond. She did. The little girl got down off the couch and walked into Lisbon's arms, not adding to the hug herself, but leaning against Lisbon as the older cousin curled her arms around her and squeezed gently. "Of course they're going to find him," she said. "Of course."

"I hope so," Kara said, pulling back enough to wipe her eyes. "They killed my family."

"I know," she said. "I know. But hey." She clapped her hands together once. "I'm not your mommy or daddy, but I'm one of your cousins, you know. And I'm here to be all the family you'll let me."

Kara wiped her eyes again and nodded. "It'll be okay, in time," Lisbon said resting her chin on Kara's head when the girl allowed herself to be hugged again. She hated that Kara had to live like this, every moment in a stranger's home a reminder that she wouldn't be able to go home again. She knew all too well what it was like to lose parents.

What she didn't know, until now, was what it was like to comfort a small child and have them accept it. She'd spent so many frustrating hours trying to force her brothers to get along with each other and with her. It had taken them to adulthood before any sort of relationship was able to be formed. Kara was different. She accepted the hug Lisbon gave her like it was what she desperately needed. And Lisbon gave it in the same way.


	5. You'll Be In My Heart

**New chapter time! Sorry it's been a while, I've been working a lot – got a full day of overtime tomorrow. But here's another one! And yes, to answer a question I got a few time in PMs, each title **_**is**_** the name of a song.**

**I still don't own anything but Kara.**

Lisbon was surprised at Kara balking at the thought of taking her cousin's bed. She figured that the girl had _assumed _that was where she would be sleeping, but the girl looked at her in confusion. "But it's yours."

"Well, I'm not going to ask you to sleep on the floor, now am I?" Lisbon asked, smiling.

Kara shrugged. "I sleep on the floor when I go to people's houses for the night."

Lisbon cocked her head. She for sure was not sleeping over at friends' houses when she was seven years old. "Well," she said, "you're not just here for the night. I'm going to get a bed for you, maybe tomorrow, but you need a place to sleep tonight and this is what I'm offering you. Kay?"

Kara nodded. "Okay. Thank you…" she trailed off. "What do I call you?"

Lisbon smiled. "Teresa."

Kara smiled back. Then, "can I have toast in the morning?"

The change of topic was so abrupt Lisbon almost laughed. "Sure," she said, smiling and relieved that Kara had asked for something that she knew how to make. "And then I'll take you out and get you some toys and things, okay?"

Kara crawled onto Lisbon's bed and curled up right in the center. "Yeah."

Lisbon cocked her head and smiled. "What are you doing? Don't you want a pillow?" she said, almost teasingly but not sure if Kara was ready for that yet. She picked up one of her own and held it out to her. Kara lifted her head enough for her cousin to slide it under, and then smiled. "Thank you."

"Good night," Lisbon told her, placing her hand on the little girl's shoulder affectionately.

"Night," Kara said, her eyes closed.

Lisbon turned out the light and eased the door shut. And stopped. Turning out a child's light. Closing the door quietly. Such a typical, run of the mill thing for a parent to do.

"Oh God," Lisbon thought to herself. "It's been one day and I already know I like this way too much."

* * *

"Can we go and get movies?" Kara asked, running to catch up.

Lisbon sighed. She didn't like letting kids watch excessive television – there was too much violence on nowadays – but Kara had behaved very well throughout the day, not complaining when Lisbon dragged her through multiple clothing stores and nearly got them lost trying to find a teddy bear that resembled the one Kara had lost. She just followed her older cousin, not falling too far behind but not running ahead, either. It looked like her parents had been raising her right. She could let her watch a little TV – and if it was a movie, Lisbon could control what the girl saw.

"What kind of movies do you like?" She asked the girl.

"Disney!" Kara said excitedly, like she'd been waiting for Lisbon to ask. She pointed farther down the aisle. "There they are!"

"All right," Lisbon said. "You can pick two, okay? Then we've got to get going."

"Okay!" Kara smiled and darted ahead toward the movies.

"Boss?"

Lisbon turned around. "Wayne." She pulled her head back slightly and cocked her head. "What are you doing here?"

"Benjamin busted his 101 Dalmations DVD," Rigsby said. "Sarah's made me go out and get another one." He raised an eyebrow and motioned with his head toward Kara. "Is she with you?"

"Uh," Lisbon said. "Uh, yes." She nodded. "Her father is a cousin of mine. He…died, in that fire up north, and I've got temporary custody."

"Oh, that's too bad," Rigsby said. "About her parents, I mean." He looked over at the girl and then smiled back at Lisbon. "But you must be excited, huh?"

Lisbon turned her head slightly. "About…?"

"You know, getting the chance to…" Rigsby trailed off, assuming an uncomfortable posture. "Know her. I guess."

"Okay!" Kara said, coming up to Lisbon and smiling. "I picked."

"The Lion King and Tarzan," Lisbon said, smiling. "Good choices."

"Hi!" Kara said to Rigsby. "Do you work for Teresa, too?"

"I do," he said, dropping down into a hunker so he could see her better. "I hear you're going to be staying with my boss for a while."

"Yeah," she said. "What's your name?"

"Wayne Rigsby," he said, holding out his hand. Lisbon smiled when Kara took it and shook. "So boss," he said, standing up. "When are you going to bring her in?"

"It took you three months to bring Ben to work," Lisbon said. "And we're not a play group."

"You're still on personal time," he said. "Just stop by and visit. Bring the kid."

"If I stop by and visit, they'll put me to work," Lisbon said, smiling. "I have to be there for her right now."

"You're telling me," Rigsby said under his breath.

"What's that mean?" Lisbon asked.

Rigsby raised his eyebrows. "Look what movies she picked."

* * *

When they got home, Kara put Tarzan into Lisbon's DVD player and Lisbon ordered pizza. "I think it would be really cool to go out into the jungle and find gorillas and elephants," Kara said.

"You know I've met an elephant," Lisbon said. "She was owned by one of my friend's friends."

"Really?" Kara asked. "What was her name?"

"Daisy," Lisbon said readjusting the position of her arm across the back of the couch when Kara pulled her feet up. "She picked me up in her trunk."

Kara's jaw dropped. "That is so cool!"

Lisbon smiled. "I'll bring you into work one of these days and you can meet the rest of my team, and the guy who knows the guy with the elephant."

"Okay," Kara said, glancing back at the movie. "They sound nice."

"They are," Lisbon said. "I think you'll like them."

"Good," Kara said. "Oh," she said, pointing. "This is a good part."

When the credits rolled, Lisbon got up to fold down the rollaway bed that she'd gotten for Kara. For now, she'd set it up in the hallway, upstairs, just outside her bedroom. Tomorrow or the next day she'd work on getting space cleared for Kara to move into one of the rooms. But for now, getting the girl into a bed that she could call her own was her first priority. Kara crawled onto it and curled up with her teddy bear, and Lisbon turned out the light in the hallway and slipped into her own room. She left the light on near her bed – she wasn't used to going to bed early; usually when she took personal time something was bothering her and she couldn't get the rest she needed, so she opened a book and tried to read. She'd barely made it through a chapter (she was distracted by a fly buzzing around her light) when she heard her door handle turn and crack open.

Lisbon put down the book. "Kara?"

The girl stood in the doorway, clutching the teddy bear, tears running down her face. "Oh, sweetie," Lisbon said, throwing the covers back and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Kara came toward her. "Reesa," she said, dropping to the ground at her cousin's feet. "I had a bad dream."

Lisbon leaned over and lifted Kara up by her upper arms. "Hey, hey," she said, standing her up and putting her hands on the side of the girl's face. "Breathe."

The girl struggled to take a breath of a normal length. "I want my parents back," she managed, new tears overflowing. "I lost…" she stopped to gasp for air. "I lost _everyone_." She put her hands over her face and shook.

"Oh, sweetie," Lisbon said again, pulling the girl into her lap and holding her close. How often she'd wanted her brothers to come to her when they were upset. How often she'd wanted to comfort Jane, or Van Pelt, or Cho, or Rigsby, and hadn't known how, her discomfort at the thought of hugs, yes, was related to her own attempts to be emotionally detached, but it partially stemmed from not knowing how another adult would react to the embrace. A child, especially one as young as Kara, was easier to read. When they were upset, they wanted comfort.

"In real life," Kara said, "I didn't see my mama…" she sucked in a breath. "I didn't see the fire fall on her. But this dream…"

"I know," Lisbon said. "I don't have a mother either. I used to have dreams like this, just like you are now. They'll go away. I promise they'll go away. Not for a while. But then they will. I don't even know if you're old enough to understand, but grief fades in time. It will always be a part of you…but it won't consume you. Not forever."

"Can I stay in here with you?" Kara asked, looking up at her cousin. "I never had night mares when I slept with my parents."

"Absolutely," Lisbon said, pulling her feet up and turning out the light. She could read another time. This was more important. "It's going to be okay, Kara," she said. "I'm right here, okay?" She rocked back and forth gently, trying to quiet the sobbing girl. Nightmares were bad enough – and common enough – in small children. What Kara's subconscious was doing to her at the moment was absolutely horrifying. And the girl was not calming down.

Lisbon remembered when she was little, her mother would sing to her to calm her down when she was upset or afraid. Her mother wasn't gifted in the music areas, but a singing voice had always worked wonders to calm Lisbon down. She cleared her throat. Her singing was no more than talking with a slightly musical tone, but she figured it was better than nothing. And after all, Kara did like Tarzan. "Come, stop your crying, it will be all right. Just take my hand, and hold it tight. I will protect you from all around you. I will be here, don't you cry."

She felt Kara slide her arms around her cousin's neck and bury her head into Lisbon's shoulder. Lisbon lowered her head to rest her chin on the top of the girls' crown. "For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm." Her voice choked up slightly. "This bond between us can't be broken. I will be here, don't you cry."


	6. Man in the Mirror

**Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the inconsistency in posting new chapters, I write when I have the time! And if AUs don't bother you, please check out my other work in progress, "Blood Trail."**

**As you all may guess, Kara is going to hit it off with everyone on Lisbon's team. This chapter will have a bit more of a focus (though not much) on where her connection to Jane will come from, and the others will happen as the fic goes on.**

**And I still only own Kara. **

"Are you excited to meet my friends?" Lisbon asked Kara the next morning, still not quite believing that after putting so much effort into not letting the team find out about this yet, she was going to the CBI to parade Kara around in front of them.

"Yes," Kara said. "Mister Wayne seemed nice."

Lisbon smiled. "He is. He has a little boy some years younger than you; that's who he was buying the movie for."

"Is he going to be there?"

"Wayne? Yes. Ben won't be, though. He's at his mother's house. Maybe you can meet him sometime."

Kara handed Lisbon her cereal bowl. "I hope so."

Lisbon handed it back to her. "Drink the milk."

Kara wrinkled her nose. "I don't like drinking cereal milk."

"Then don't put so much of it in your bowl. This is waste. Drink it."

Kara frowned and put the bowl to her mouth.

* * *

Upon reaching the CBI, Lisbon waved her hand in front of her face to clear the exhaust that came from the large truck in front of them. "Sorry!" the man called. "She isn't starting up right."

"You're fine," Lisbon said as she opened the door for Kara as she jumped out of the back seat. She made the little girl look at her. "Now you have to stay near me, understood? This is a police bureau and everyone here is doing important stuff, we can't have you getting lost or getting in their way."

Kara nodded. "I won't."

They entered the building and took the elevator up to the correct floor. Lisbon was glad that no one from her team was waiting at the top. She'd rather make a minimal fuss and let Kara meet them in their own section.

Lisbon's throat was still dry from the truck exhaust that she'd inhaled when they parked, so she stopped at the fridge and grabbed her half full water bottle that was still there from the other day. "Want any?" she asked Kara.

The younger Lisbon shook her head. "I'm not thirsty. You made me drink all the cereal milk."

Lisbon smiled to herself as she swallowed the cool water. She most certainly did.

"Okay," she said, putting the bottle back in the fridge. "Let's go this way."

"Okay!" Kara said brightly, grabbing her cousin's hand. Lisbon smiled. "Where is your team?"

"They should be right in here," Lisbon said, walking toward her section of the floor. Cho and Van Pelt were at their computers. Jane was asleep on the couch.

Despite her role as Senior Agent, Lisbon knocked quietly before entering the area. "Hey, guys," she said. "I brought someone that I'd like you to meet."

The two at computers turned to face her. "Oh, hi!" Van Pelt said, getting the grin on her face that Lisbon suspected she would. Grace Van Pelt, a woman who had been through so much and yet her face was able to light up so brilliantly at the sight of something innocent.

Her smile was contagious. Kara grinned back. "Hi. I like your hair."

"I like yours, too," Van Pelt told her. "You're a cutie." She looked up at Lisbon and mouthed the word _adorable._

_I know,_ Lisbon mouthed back.

"Hi, Agent Cho!" Kara said brightly, skipping to his desk and putting her hands flat against the top.

Cho smiled – a bit. "Hello."

"Did you catch anyone today?"

"I'm sorry, I cannot disclose that information," Cho dead panned. Kara giggled.

"Who would have known that you'd be a hoot with little kids?" Rigsby said, walking into the room and looking at Cho.

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Lisbon?" Jane lifted his head from the couch. "Is that you?" He craned his neck around and grinned. "Well well well…what have we here?" He slowly lifted himself off the couch and walked toward the LIsbons, stopping a few paces in front of them and dropping to a crouch near Kara. "Hello there!"

She took a step back, suddenly shy. "Hi."

Jane glanced up at Lisbon, looking amused, and then put out his hand. "Patrick Jane. I'm Teresa's best friend."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Okay."

Jane kept looking at Kara. "It's true. What's your name?"

"Kara Lisbon," she said, sticking out her hand and taking his, giving it a firm shake. "I'm Teresa's cousin."

"I can tell," Jane said. "You are just as pretty as she is."

Kara looked up at Lisbon and smiled. Lisbon ran her hand through the girl's hair. "Do you have kids?" The little girl asked Jane. Lisbon closed her eyes.

Jane looked down at his left hand briefly, then back up at Kara. "I did. I had a little girl like you. But, um…" he shrugged. "Things change."

Kara nodded. "I know. I had parents. I don't anymore."

Lisbon, Rigsby, Cho, and Van Pelt watched the interaction between Jane and Kara intently. At that moment, it wouldn't have mattered if a squawking parrot appeared in the middle of the CBI and began flying in circles around them. They were all thinking the same thing.

Jane and Kara were two people who understood loss. It didn't matter that one of them had lost because of their own actions and one had nothing to do with it. It didn't matter that one was an adult and one was a child. Both of them had lost all they ever knew of family, and it was if they were drawn to the other's pain. That and the known fact that Jane adored children and children tended to gravitate toward Jane.

And that damaged people gravitated toward Lisbon.

And vice versa.

Rigsby caught Cho's eye and they nodded toward each other. It definitely made sense as to why Lisbon would make time in her busy life for a lonely, damaged person. It was what she did – they were reminded of it every day at work. Rigsby glanced at Van Pelt and she gave a small smile. Lisbon noticed all of them exchanging glances and wondered if she was thinking something different from the other three.

And then she definitely was thinking something different. "I…gotta…" she whirled around and ran down the hall, hoping that Kara wouldn't run after her and get lost somewhere in the building.

She threw open the bathroom door, sidestepped Agent Simasko on her way out, and fell to her knees just in time, vomiting violently into the toilet.


	7. Stay With You

**New chapter time! I'd write a more detailed Author's Note but quite frankly, I'm exhausted.**

Grace Van Pelt followed her boss down the hallway and into the bathroom, reaching the stall just as Lisbon lifted her head and gasped for breath. "Boss!" she said anxiously. "What is it?"

Lisbon sucked in another breath, refusing to look at anyone until she had herself under control. Now that someone else was in the bathroom, she felt as if the acoustics of the place were becoming a lot better. She tried to quiet her breathing and another wave of nausea overcame her. She dropped her head back near the toilet seat and prayed to the porcelain god. This time, she kept her head lowered longer, closing her eyes and willing her stomach to calm down. Upon feeling like this had been accomplished, she turned to face the agent. "I'm fine. I'm fine, I just…" she waved her hand dismissively. "I just wasn't feeling well."

"I'll say," Van Pelt said, leaning over and taking her boss by the upper arms, guiding her to her feet. "Has Kara been sick?"

Lisbon shook her head. "No." She started. "Is she now?"

Van Pelt slowly shook her head. "No, she's with Jane." The redhead's eyes narrowed. "Do you remember that?"

Lisbon gave a roll of her eyes. "Yes, I remember that, Grace." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Sink." Van Pelt moved out of her way, and Lisbon leaned against the sink, letting the faucet run and splashing water on her face. She was feeling a bit better now, but still a little nauseous and just…just _bad_. She'd seen, heard, smelled, and otherwise experienced a lot of rather disgusting things in her line of work. She wasn't a puker. And yet this had overcome her so very quickly.

But she'd live. And if anyone asked, she could always say she was envisioning Jane making Kara into a mini mentalist and having two of them in the world was just more than she could stand. "Thanks, Grace," she said, nodding to Van Pelt. "I'm fine now. Thanks."

Van Pelt nodded. "No problem."

She looked at Lisbon another second before exiting the bathroom. The senior agent followed. "Teresa, what's the matter?" Kara asked her when she returned to the desks. She was sitting on Cho's desk, her hands in her lap and her feet dangling off the edge.

Cho was looking at Kara. "Boss, there's a seven year old sitting on my desk."

"Yes, agent, thank you," she said. "Kara, get off, please."

"What's the matter?" Kara asked again, cocking her head.

"Nothing, sweetheart," Lisbon said, putting a hand on the girl's head. "I just didn't feel well for a moment there."

Kara cocked her head, glancing at Jane, and then looking back at Lisbon. "Want to see me read minds?"

Lisbon looked at Jane. "I'm gone for five minutes and you've got her reading minds?"

Jane shrugged. "She's a natural. Watch."

"Give me the cards," Kara said, holding her hand out to Jane. Jane just looked at her. "Please give me the cards," she amended. He handed them over. "Okay," she said to Lisbon. "How many cards do you deal someone in Go Fish?"

Lisbon thought back. "Seven."

"Only if there are four or fewer players," Jane said.

"Seems to me like there's only two of us involved in this magic trick," Lisbon said.

"Well, we'll need a third person," Kara said. "Agent Cho!"

Cho looked over at her. "No."

"I'll do it," Rigsby said.

"Okay," Kara agreed. She laid seven cards on the table – two of hearts, ace of spades, and nine of spades in one column, queen of diamonds, three of clubs, and ten of spades in another column, and seven of clubs in the middle, to make the cards look like an H. Well, Lisbon thought with a smile, a slightly uneven H.

"Stop judging Kara's ability to make straight lines with the cards," Jane said, pointing at Lisbon in mock accusation.

"I'm here to watch her read my mind," she said. "Not you."

"So touchy," Jane said, giving a small smirk as he leaned back in the chair.

"Okay," Kara said, looking around. "I'm going to leave the room. When I'm gone, tell Mister Agent Rigsby the card. Then call me back."

Lisbon smiled in amusement as Kara skipped just outside the door and plugged her ears. "Okay," she said to Rigssby. "Queen of diamonds."

"All right," Rigsby said. "Kara!"

The little girl ran back into the room. "Okay," she said. "Mister Agent Rigsby, please tap all of the cards once. Don't tap any one card harder than another one. Don't tap out of order. Don't tap any one twice."

Rigsby cocked his head. "All right." He went over each card with his pointer finger and tapped it. After he had finished, Kara looked intensely at the cards, then at Lisbon, then back at the cards and back to Lisbon again. "Queen of diamonds."

Lisbon's jaw dropped, then she recovered. "Lucky guess."

Kara shrugged. "What are the odds?"

Lisbon glanced at Jane, who was smiling. "Wipe that grin off your face," she told him.

"Why?" he said.

"You've taught her how to read minds? Next will she be hypnotizing me to not make her drink the milk out of her cereal?"

"No one can do under hypnosis anything against their character," Jane said. "If she hypnotizes you to not make her drink the milk out of her cereal, then deep down you don't want her to drink the milk out of her cereal."

"Oh, go to…" she cut off, glancing at Kara, then looked back to Jane. "A town in Michigan."

"Detroit?" Jane asked, knowing full well that she was talking about Hell. "I was there once. It gave me a punch in the face years later."

* * *

"So did you like the trick?" Kara asked later, when the Lisbons were home.

"Very much," Lisbon said. "I actually thought some on the way home about how you did it."

"Did you figure it out?" Kara asked. Lisbon shook her head. "That's because there's nothing to figure out. I read minds."

Lisbon smiled. "That's right, you do."

"I like your friends a lot," she said. "They're fun. Can we see them tomorrow?"

"I don't think so," Lisbon said. "They're busy people. They have a lot of work to do and we took an hour out of their time today."

"So I'm a bother?" Kara asked. "I'm taking up a lot more of your time than theirs."

"You are _not_ a bother, Kara," Lisbon said. "Not to me. But I'm on personal time right now so I can take care of you, and they aren't. Maybe on a day off I can let you meet Rigsby's son. Maybe Jane can teach you more magic tricks. Maybe you and Van Pelt can throw a ball around. But they work a lot and they need to focus on that."

Kara was quiet for a long time. "You work a lot, too," she said. "You told me that. Your friends told me that. What's going to happen when your personal time runs out?"

"You know what?" Lisbon said. "We're going to cross that bridge when we come to it."

"You aren't married," Kara said slowly. "You'll have to go back to work. It's summer; there's no school…" she swallowed. "I'm going to have to go away, aren't I?"

Lisbon dropped down to eye level with the girl. "Kara, nothing is set in stone right now, okay?" She let out a shaky breath. "I don't know exactly what's going to happen," she said. But know that if there is any possible way that you can stay living with me, I will make it happen."

Kara reached out and put a hand on Lisbon's. "You promise?" she said, sounding much younger than she was.

Lisbon put her other hand on top of Kara's, and Kara in turn put her other hand on top of Lisbon's. "Yes, I promise."

Kara looked down at their hands, then back at Lisbon's face. "I love you," she said, cocking her head slightly to the side.

They hadn't even known each other a week, but Lisbon didn't doubt it. This girl, who had lost so much, still knew how to love openly. It didn't matter to her that she and her cousin had never met. Lisbon was Kara's family.

The older cousin blinked away tears as she leaned forward and kissed her relative's forehead. In the short time she'd known her, Kara had already filled a hole in Lisbon's life that she had long been in denial was empty. "I love you, too."


	8. One More Day

**New chapter! So sorry for the long wait, as I explained in my Blood Trail A/N, I've been super busy, but now that I'm back at the university, I'll have a more regulated schedule.**

**I own Kara and absolutely nothing else.**

"Now I want you to remember that Ben is a very young boy," Lisbon said, looking through the rear view mirror at Kara. "He's a lot younger than you are and you'll need to be careful when playing with him."

"I know," she said. "Alyson has little sisters. We're good."

"That's good," Lisbon said, trying to sound encouraging.

Upon reaching Sarah's house, Lisbon smiled as Kara ran over to Ben, who was sitting in the yard with a big stuffed duck, and dropped down next to him, not even using her hands to break her fall. "Hi, Ben!" she said enthusiastically. "I'm Kara."

"Thank you so much for doing this," Lisbon said to Sarah. "I'm not one who enjoys accepting offers of help, but I do really need to go into the CBI today." She didn't feel like going in, she'd been lightheaded since breakfast and she hated dropping Kara off anywhere, but there was stuff that needed to be done at work that Cho wasn't able to do – they needed someone who was an actual senior agent. She had been going to have a word with Bertram, but then figured if she came in, that was one more day of personal time she could take later when a 'babysitter' might be harder to come by.

"Oh, it's no problem at all, Agent Lisbon," Sarah said. Ben's mother looked over at where the two kids were giggling. "The age gap doesn't seem to be much of an issue."

"Kara loves everyone, and toddlers love everyone," Lisbon said. "Match made in heaven – for now." She watched the two kids for another moment or two, and then turned back to Sarah and smiled. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

Sarah smiled back. "Sounds good."

* * *

Upon reaching the CBI, Lisbon was briefed on the most recent case by Cho and Van Pelt, Jane lying lackadaisically on the couch with his eyes closed, and Rigsby off in the kitchen. "I take it the two of you are off to interview the widow?" she asked when Van Pelt and Cho had stopped talking.

"Yes," the red head said, nodding. "Then off to talk to Warren Feinman, the victim's step brother."

"Sounds good," Lisbon said, nodding. "I'll be in my office until I get all the political stuff taken care of, if you need me, call my cell. And Cho," she said after they'd turned to walk away.

He turned. "Yes, boss?"

Lisbon hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "You're doing a good job."

The corners of Cho's mouth didn't move upward into a grin, but pulled back slightly, his version of a businesslike smile. "Thank you, boss."

Lisbon watched them leave their section of the offices and head toward the elevator, and she smiled. Van Pelt and Cho made a pretty good professional team, her veteran agent and her newest. She figured she'd ought to put them together more often.

She was halfway to her office when the slightly lightheaded feeling that had been plaguing her since the morning intensified, and she reached an arm out to steady herself as she went into her office.

By the time she realized she was going to be sick again, there was no time to run for the bathroom. With the way her head was feeling, she didn't think she'd make it there without passing out anyway. She dropped to the ground in front of her trash can and gripped the rim with both hands as her body convulsed.

"Lisbon?"

_Dammit,_ she thought. Jane had probably seen her wobble on her way in. Why did he always have to know what was going on with _everyone_?

"Go away. I'm fine."

"No." She heard the door shut. "No, you're not."

"Dammit, Jane!" she said, turning her head around to see him. Her throat was threatening to give out again, so she closed her mouth and inhaled in an attempt to hold down the rest of her food. She turned back to the trash can, embarrassed.

"Have you come down with something?" Jane asked, seeming to recognize that invading her personal bubble right now wasn't the best way of making her feel better. He sat down on her couch and leaned back. "I did notice you looked a little pale when you came in this morning."

"Thanks for the compliment," she said sarcastically. She hated being like this, keeled over in front of a trash can with vomit taste in her mouth in front of someone she worked with – or anyone – but she didn't trust herself enough to stand up just yet. "I don't know what happened," she said finally. "I've been lightheaded all morning and I guess…" she shrugged. Jane was frowning. "What?" she asked, looking confused.

Jane cocked his head slightly. "Nothing. I was thinking about something else." He cleared his throat. "So how is Kara? Rigsby told me that she was going to be Ben's playmate for the day."

"Yes," Lisbon said.

"That sounds like a good time," Jane said, looking off to the side as if remembering play dates that Charlotte had had. "It's good for kids to be around other kids, even if they're not quite the same age. There's an innocence there, and you want to preserve that for as long as possible." Jane looked at Lisbon and grinned. "Did you ever read Catcher in the Rye?"

Lisbon supposed he was trying to distract her from the nausea or trying to use roundabout methods to determine the cause, but she didn't call him on it; she was still trying to breathe without the nausea overcoming her again. Her head was still spinning slightly, but she felt better now. Slowly, she reached up and grabbed her desk.

Jane was on his feet in an instant and took her arm to help her to her feet. Once she was standing, she closed her eyes slightly to help her center of balance, and then let out a deep breath and opened them.

Jane was looking at her oddly, as if he was on the brink of figuring something out. "What?" she asked him.

Jane looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Cut the crap, Jane."

"You're worried that you're not going to get to keep custody of Kara," he said. "You want to, but you know that your job is time consuming. You don't know if they'll let you remain as her primary care giver."

"You want me to be honest with you?" she asked him.

"Always."

"I don't know if _I'll_ let me remain as her primary care giver," she said.

"Do you not have faith in yourself?" Jane asked. "I've always thought you had great maternal instincts."

"That's not what I'm concerned with," she said, shaking her head. The rapid motion made bit of the lightheadedness return. She paused for a moment before continuing. "She came from a loving, responsible two parent home. And now she's with me, who can give her most of the attention a mother is supposed to give, but what about the other parent? I'm not married. I don't even have a live in boyfriend. Where will she get the male parental role from?"

"Why does she need a male figure?" Jane said. "She already has Ben."

Lisbon rolled her eyes at his joke. "Very funny." She turned toward her desk.

"Why does she need a male figure?" Jane repeated, this time with more force. He put both hands on the edge of her desk and looked at her as if he was really expecting an answer.

"Because kids need two parents," Lisbon said. "Especially kids that young. Kara needs a father."

"Why?" Jane said. "To teach her how to be strong? How to take care of herself? How to defend herself?" He raised his eyebrows as if his point should have hit home. "If you can't teach her that, then I don't know what _man_ can." He straightened up and turned to walk toward the door. Right before reaching it, he turned back and looked at her. "I'd give anything for one more hour with my daughter," he said. "And I couldn't raise her alone as well as my wife and I could have together, but if it came down to it I damn sure would have tried."

Lisbon felt that guilty pang that she always seemed to feel whenever Jane used his dead family as an example. He let his sentence sink in, and then spoke again. "Now that girl loves you and needs you and I guarantee that she'd prefer the life she'd have to live with you over any other one that remains to be possible."

Lisbon looked at him for a long time, and then sighed. "I hate it when you're right."

He grinned. "I know." He opened the door and walked out, but before it shut again, he stuck his head inside. "You might want to throw that garbage away."


	9. Poison Apple

**New chapter time. Thanks to everyone for reviewing. Added disclaimer – I took the naming process of the animal from Warehouse 13, so I don't get credit for that. I just figured that it could work here too. : )**

"What are we going to do today?" Kara asked, jumping up onto her seat at the table.

Lisbon smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. "We're going to drive a little bit to see someone who I bet you're going to love."

Kara's eyes lit up. "Who?"

"Oh, you'll see," Lisbon said, handing the girl a piece of toast. She smiled. Kara was thriving, much less the quiet, emotionally sensitive girl who had come into her care. She still would come to Lisbon's room once a week or so, trembling and missing her parents, but she was adjusting. Jane's words rang in Lisbon's ears and she let herself feel proud of being the cause of the little girl's newfound stability.

Of course, her team had helped a lot too. When they weren't busy working a case Lisbon brought Kara in to say hello. She figured that would stop Jane from going off on some crazy shenanigans because work was 'boring'.

Van Pelt and Kara had developed some odd fascination with each other. She even let the girl rip up all her junk paper, something that reminded Lisbon fondly of Hightower's children. Maybe Kara sensed that Grace was the nearest removed from naiveté of all of them. The smile that the red head agent gave to Lisbon's little cousin resembled those she gave prior to her betrayal by O'Laughlin.

Of course, not everything Kara had picked up on from the gang was something that Lisbon wanted her to. She kept showing her older cousin the card trick and she just couldn't figure it out. And now Kara was ribbing her for her Spice Girls guilty pleasure, too.

That one had started when Rigsby had asked Kara how she had enjoyed playing with Ben. Her enthusiastic answer had lead Lisbon to comment _"I'm going to need to buy this girl a puppy to keep her happy being at my place!"_

"_No dogs," Cho said, speaking as if the phrase pained him._

"_A puppy?" Jane said, grinning. "To run around through your house with muddy feet and not making it outside in time to go to the bathroom? Is that what you want, Agent Lisbon?" He leaned over toward her and grinned mischievously. "What you really, really want?"_

"_Go to Hell," she whispered, hoping Kara didn't hear._

_She didn't. Instead, she broke out into song in the middle of the CBI._

"_Kara!" Lisbon chided. "People are working here?"_

"_I don't know, I'm amused," Rigsby said, grinning until he caught his boss's death stare. He quieted down and looked back at the paperwork on his desk._

"_But the Spice Girls!" Kara said happily._

"_Oh, Kara, my dear," Jane said, sitting down on the corner of the nearest desk. "You are a Lisbon."_

Now "but the Spice Girls" had become Kara's rallying cry. It was her excuse when she didn't want to drink her milk in the morning. It was her reason to watch a movie before going to bed. And it was the reason that Lisbon was now giving her toast instead of cereal.

* * *

"A farm?" Kara asked when she and the older Lisbon pulled up a gravel driveway. "Cows?"

"Not quite," Lisbon said, smiling as she parked next to a barn. "They do have some cows, but that's not who I've brought you to see." She grabbed the girl's hand when she jumped out of the car and led her toward some of the white fencing.

"A pony!" Kara exclaimed, running up and jumping on the fence.

Lisbon stood against the fence and whistled. The little animal's head shot up from the grass and trotted toward them.

"She comes to you!" Kara squealed, looking up at Lisbon and grinning.

"I bring him apples," she said.

"Oh, it's a him," she said. "What's his name?"

The pony reached the fence and bumped Lisbon's stomach. She felt a wave of nausea, but it passed, and she took an apple out of her pocket and held it against her palm while the equine took half of it in his mouth. "Jane," Lisbon said, ruffling the pony's mane.

"Jane?" she said. "Like Patrick Jane?"

"Yep," Lisbon said. "Because the pony reminds me of him."

"How?" Kara wanted to know.

"Well," Lisbon said, "he's cute, but _so _annoying." Kara giggled. "Plus, pony Jane here was a present from consultant Jane, for my birthday a few years ago."

"Is that allowed?" Kara asked. "I heard Agent Cho talking about how you can't date people you go to your job with."

"Well, Kara," Lisbon said, "nowhere in the CBI handbook does it say that the senior agent cannot accept gifts of ponies from her consultant."

That made Kara laugh really hard. And that made Lisbon smile. She handed the girl an apple. "When I was little I used to be afraid of apples because of Snow White. And I got her and Pocahontas mixed up and then called them Snowpahontas."

Lisbon barely managed to contain her laughter. "I have some good news for you," she said, running her hand through Kara's hair. The little girl looked up at her. "I spoke with the social worker last night, and she's agreed to grant me custody of you, for at least another three months. School will start; I can enroll you near the house…" she trailed off when she noticed the look on Kara's face. "What is it?"

Kara held out her arms and Lisbon bent to receive the hug, hoping that Kara wouldn't mind that her slimy apple hand was on her back. And then Kara whispered to her, _why don't you adopt me?_

"Oh sweetie," Lisbon said, squeezing the little girl. "It's a step, okay? It's a step in that direction. When you're in school and doing well, then they'll see that living with me is good for you."

Kara pulled back. "They can just ask me."

Lisbon smiled. "I know, sweetie. But that's not how it works."

Her phone buzzed then, startling both her and the girl. She worked it out of her jeans pocket and looked at the display. _Patrick Jane,_ it read. _CBI consultant._

Damn, she needed a different name. That was so ridiculously formal.

She pressed 'accept call'. "Jane. Out here visiting your name sake. He almost made me throw up."

"Lisbon, that's not funny."

She turned away from Kara, now back to petting the pony, so there was no chance of the little girl seeing her frown. "Come on, you're always telling me to lighten up…"

"I know why you're throwing up. And I'm not talking about the pony, _I know why you've been sick_."

When he told her, Lisbon felt all the blood drain from her face.


	10. Come Over

**New chapter! So lovely to see some new people reading/following the story, and thanks as well to my loyal readers. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a little longer than the previous ones have been. Also, since I have gotten PMs about this, yes, each chapter (as I think I've said in a previous A/N) is a song title. Sometimes just the title is relevant to the chapter, sometimes the entire song is. If you want to know the artist of any song title, then just ask me and I'll let you know. :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I have not come into ownership of any of this during the duration of the fic. If I owned The Mentalist, you guys would have your promo by now. :)**

"Now you listen to me, Jane," Lisbon said. "If child services find out about this, they're take Kara away. Do not tell anyone, do you understand me? Anyone."

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

Lisbon turned slightly to see Kara, who was busy braiding Pony Jane's mane. She swallowed and took in a shaky breath. "You're sure about this?"

"I had…a friend…run the test for me." Jane sounded genuinely sorry to be the bearer of bad news. "I'm sorry."

"Well," Lisbon said, sighing, "I'm going to ask Sarah if she can keep Kara for a few days. And we're going to figure this out so by the time that child services finds out, it will be taken care of."

"We?" Jane asked, sounding amused.

Lisbon didn't appreciate his apparent amusement. "God dammit, Jane, I bust my ass for you on a regular basis. _I_ need _you_ on this one."

"Well, if you're going to beg…" Jane said teasingly. Lisbon felt her eyes well up, she didn't need his attitude right now, but she didn't snap at the consultant again. Now that she knew what was happening to her, she could make sure that Kara stayed safe and ensure her own health.

Ending the phone call, Lisbon wiped her eyes and let out another breath. She couldn't let Kara see how unstable she felt at the moment, so she put on a smile and walked back to the girl and the pony. "Having fun?"

Kara grinned. "Yes! I love Jane!" She extended her index finger and poked the pony's muzzle. "His nose is so soft!" She giggled. "Does Mister Jane like that you named it after him because he's cute?"

"Mister Jane doesn't know that," Lisbon said, smiling. "He thinks I named it that solely for the "annoying" part. Though I think he's secretly flattered." At Kara's mischievous grin, Lisbon dropped to her knees next to her. "And _you_ are not going to tell him!"

Kara's continued giggles made Lisbon reach out and pull the girl closer, tickling her sides. Kara shrieked and playfully tried to get away. Pony Jane jumped away from the fence and regarded the two humans curiously.

After a few minutes, Lisbon stopped her tickle assault on the younger girl and pulled her into a hug, her stomach against her little cousin's back, her chin resting on Kara's head. Kara put her hands over Lisbon's and giggled a little more. Then she craned her neck around and looked up at the cop. "I'm happy I live with you."

Lisbon pressed her lips together and smiled. "Me, too."

* * *

By that evening, Lisbon had dropped Kara off at Sarah and Rigsby's house, thanking them up and down and promising to return the favor if they ever wanted a break from Benjamin. She pulled Rigsby aside. "Did Jane talk to you guys?"

"Yes," Rigsby said. "I can't believe this is happening to you, Boss. Grace wanted me to tell you that she is running the videos of everyone who has come in and out of the CBI in the past month and checking the health records of everyone working in Serious Crimes. No one has reported an exposure to arsenic."

"So it's definitely someone targeting me," Lisbon said, wondering if the knot in her stomach was from nerves, the poison, or both. "Kara doesn't seem to be affected, so I'm the ultimate target. It's important that she stay away from me for the next few days so she doesn't get exposed."

"We've got your back, boss," Rigsby said, smiling thinly. "You know, for a moment there Cho and I thought you might be pregnant."

Lisbon smiled. "You need a little more of a personal life than I do to get pregnant," she said wryly, a moment later wondering why the Hell she'd shared that little bit of info with a co – worker. "I mean…I never told you that."

"Told me what?" Rigsby said easily.

* * *

Lisbon stopped at the store on the way home and bought several tubs of ice cream, crackers, and bottled water. She didn't trust anything at her house anymore; Kara might not have any symptoms, but that didn't mean whoever was poisoning her hadn't been in her home, as much as that thought scared her. She wasn't taking any chances. They had managed to get to her water at the CBI offices, after all.

She put all the ice cream in the freezer aside from one jug and turned on the TV, forgetting it had been turned off the night before with the DVD player still on, and she felt tears come again when _Tarzan_ came on the screen. She'd lost count of how many times she'd seen that movie in the past month, it and the other three that she'd bought for Kara.

Tonight, lonely and afraid, she felt a lot like Tarzan's adoptive mother, who had taken the baby in when his parents had been killed and loved him as her own child. Then she was afraid she'd lose him to Jane…Lisbon smiled as that thought entered her mind, Jane and Kara certainly had hit it off. She certainly was afraid of losing Kara, and if the social workers found out that someone was likely trying to kill Lisbon with arsenic poisoning, they'd take the girl from her in an instant. She knew she was being selfish, but, she rationalized, Kara loved her too. Kara wouldn't want to leave.

_I will protect you from all around you._

Lisbon turned off the television. It wasn't distracting her enough. Her mind raced as she tried to establish motive for why someone would come after her. She'd sent a lot of people to prison, that was for sure, but most of them ended up more pissed off at Jane or Cho than her. The CBI had been fairly quiet lately, at least the Serious Crimes unit had.

She reached for the phone and dialed, holding it to her ear as she tucked her legs up underneath her. Jane answered on the second ring. "Hey, Lisbon."

"Hey," she said. "Are you busy?"

"I'm reciting the digits of Pi," Jane said. "It's not terribly interesting, though."

"Oh," she said. "I was wondering if you wanted to throw out some theories on who could be wanting to poison me, but you sound pretty occupied, so…"

"I'll be right over," he said.

Lisbon had thought they would just talk over the phone. "You don't have to drive out here," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Lisbon nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Just…have you thought of anything off the top of your head? Anyone you remember that was extra angry at me? Maybe someone who threatened me to you or Agent Cho when I wasn't in the room?"

"Not that I can _recall_," Jane said. "Normally everyone gets mad at me."

Lisbon laughed. "That's what I was saying!" Her phone beeped. "Call waiting, one second," she told Jane, smiling at the caller ID on the incoming call. She pushed 'accept' and put the phone back to her ear. "Hello, Annie."

"Aunt Teresa."

Lisbon could tell something was wrong from her niece's tone of voice. "Annie, what is it? Is your father okay?"

She was worried, very worried, Annie never sounded like that, but somehow she wasn't expecting the word _no _to come through the phone and meet her ear. "What?" she repeated, even though she had heard good and well. "Annabeth, talk to me, what is it?"

"He was going to bring someone in," Annie said, and Lisbon could hear her suck in a breath. "And his fiancé was there, and she…" the girl let out a shaky breath. "She shot him. Twice."

Lisbon felt like she was going to fall over, and she was sitting. "Oh, my God!"

She heard a sob through the phone. "He's in surgery right now. They said he has a chance…"

Lisbon's mind was racing again. She wanted to go to Tommy and Annabeth, but she had Kara to worry about, and if someone was trying to kill her, she didn't want to be around her family when it happened lest they fall in danger too. "He's alive," she said, even though she knew it. She let out a breath of her own that, by chance, synchronized with one of Annie's. "Sweetheart," she said, "it's going to be okay. I'm sending you and your father hugs, just keep praying."

"I will," Annie promised. She took in another breath. "I will."

"Call me as soon as you know anything," Lisbon said. "I can't get out tonight but I'll be there when I can. You call me whenever you need to, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Aunt Teresa."

Lisbon hung up the phone and held it tightly in her hands, staring forward but not seeing anything. It was too much, it was all too much; she couldn't take everything happening like this all at once. She couldn't take being in this empty house wondering who was going to kill her and if she'd be able to keep Kara and if her brother was going to survive and what would happen to Annie if he didn't. She got up, but she already knew pacing wasn't going to help. She did it anyway, walking back and forth around the living room for several minutes before letting her death grip on the phone ease up. She dialed and put her shaking hand to her ear again.

It seemed like forever before the ring was cut short by the receiving end of the call. "Lisbon," Jane said in greeting.

Lisbon thought she was going to tell him that she'd have to call him back in the morning; something came up, she couldn't theorize with him right then. Or, maybe, she was going to tell him that she was ready to talk for the rest of the night about who might be after her, determined for a distraction. But that wasn't what she blurted out before she even had time to think.

"Come over."

**Just another disclaimer, because I know I'll get asked - no, this is not going to turn into a romance story.**


	11. Desperation

**Here's an update! Hope everyone that celebrates Labor Day has had a fantastic long weekend!**

**I still only own Kara. Well, and the computer I typed this on.**

Lisbon paced the floor some more, wanting to cry, wanting to let it all out, fall on the ground, and let her body shake while she sobbed her sad feelings all over the floor, but she couldn't. She might get nauseated if she allowed that kind of emotional release, and Jane was on his way. She wasn't going to break down in front of someone else – sob fests were for when you were alone. That was how Teresa Lisbon operated. She didn't seek comfort from others. Showing emotion was not in her comfort zone.

So she steadied her breathing and wiped her sweaty palms on her shirt and swallowed hard before answering the door when Jane knocked. "Come on in," she said, turning away slightly in the hope that he wouldn't see her eyes.

It was a vain hope. "You've been crying," he commented.

She cleared her throat. "So?"

"You don't have to worry, Lisbon," he told her, "we're going to figure out who is doing this, we're going to find them, and we're going to arrest them. You're not going to die, and you're not going to lose Kara." He tipped his head in what she suspected was an attempt to look gentle. "Okay?"

"Jane, it's not just about Kara," she said. "Or about me. It's everything."

"There must be something you're not telling me," Jane said. "You're not making sense, Lisbon."

She had turned away from him and now whirled back. "Tommy was shot today. He's in surgery and they don't know if he was going to make it. I could lose my brother, God knows what will happen to Annie if he dies, her mother sure as Hell won't step up, I could lose Kara, and someone is trying to kill me." Her eyes welled up. "Nobody wants to die," she said, struggling not to cry, "but it's so much worse now. I have Kara, if something happens to me…" she shook her head, not liking how her voice had cracked on that last sentence. "And I can't bear the thought of Annie losing her father so young. And I can't lose another member of my family." She shook her head, suddenly embarrassed of everything she had just said. It wasn't like her to talk so much like this, but it all had come to a head at once and if she hadn't told someone she was sure she was going to explode.

"Lisbon, I'm so sorry," Jane said, his eyes clouding over slightly as he spoke, and she was reminded yet again of how this man understood loss.

"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I can't talk about some crazy person's motive tonight. My head won't be in it." She looked away. "Maybe you should just go."

There was a silence. Then, "no."

She looked at him. "No?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Jane said. "Not with you like this."

"That's very sweet," she said, "but really…"

"What kind of friend leaves their friend struggling not to cry as their entire world is shaking around them?" Jane asked. "A sorry ass excuse of a friend." He held his arms slightly out to the side and slightly forward. "Now, come here."

Lisbon made eye contact and backed up, shaking her head, feeling like a cornered animal. "No."

"Come on, Lisbon," Jane said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Humans need companionship, it's a scientific fact. You're upset. I can help."

"No, you can't," Lisbon said, shaking her head again.

"Look," Jane said. "I know you think showing your emotions are a sign of weakness." He looked around the room. "But no one else is here." He smiled. "And I _am_ your best friend."

Lisbon bit her lip. She always said she hated physical contact, hugging, but really it was when it was unexpected that it bothered her. She loved hugging Kara, and she'd give anything to hug Tommy right now. But they were family. Teresa Lisbon didn't like feeling vulnerable in front of them, much less in front of her friends. But she'd been feeling alone all night and she found that part of her wanted to be held.

From outside, there was the squealing of car tires. Lisbon jumped slightly, her mind springing to Tommy again before reminding herself that a car accident is not how her brother had gotten hurt. Jane was still standing there, just two paces away, his arms extended politely, ready if she decided to go.

And he _was _her best friend.

She swallowed. "You won't tell anyone about this?" She asked, looking away again, and then back at him.

He cocked his head slightly. "I didn't before."

The hypnotizing. She'd nearly forgotten about that. Lisbon took in a breath and nodded. "Okay," came out of her throat, cracked and very much the voice of a woman who needed to cry. She stepped forward and let Jane hug her, and she let her tears go, crying, crying because she was scared for her life, crying because of what her death would mean for Kara, crying for Tommy, crying for Annabeth. Letting it out like she'd spent the last half hour trying desperately not to do.

The crying made her head spin. She wasn't sure if it was more terrifying now that she knew she was having symptoms of poisoning. All she was sure of was that she hated it. She hated that all of this was happening now.

She pulled away from Jane, who resisted a moment and then let her go. She turned around and stared at the wall. "This is my fault," she said. "I encouraged him."

"Him?"

"Tommy." Lisbon wiped her eyes. "He was going to find some other job, and then I caved, I gave him O'Brien, I said I would always support him and always be there for him and in doing that he stayed a bounty hunter and now…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Now he could be dying on a table somewhere and there's nothing I can do about it."

Jane sighed. "You know, you always rationalize with suspects when they do this, but you can't do it for yourself."

Lisbon turned to look at him, confused. "What?"

Jane sighed, stepping toward her again. "What happened to Tommy is not your fault. He's a bounty hunter. He came into the profession by himself. All you did was acknowledge that he's an adult. I'm not saying it's his fault he was shot, but it's not yours."

She sighed. "I know…" she shook her head. "I know."

Jane cocked his head. "Now, do you want to talk? About whoever could be behind this other thing?"

Lisbon stayed silent for a moment, and then motioned to the couch. Jane eased down on one end while she walked around the coffee table and sank onto the other end. "Okay. Um…the symptoms started the day I brought Kara to the CBI…" she shrugged. "I really don't know. Not anyone in specific, I…" she shrugged again, shaking her head slowly. "Unless…" Her eyes widened slightly and she looked from the coffee table to Jane. "Oh, God."

"You think they're trying to prevent you from getting custody or Kara?" Jane said.

"Oh, _God_!" Lisbon groaned, standing up and walking across the room, staring at her bookshelf.

"Lisbon…"

She turned around. "If you think so too, then that's gotta be it, right?"

"Not necessarily," Jane said. "I'm sure it's something else."

"No you're not," she said. "You always tell me that the simplest solution is usually the right one."

"That's true," Jane said. "It's not usually the most _fun _explanation, but…"

"So Kara does have something to do with it," Lisbon said. She leaned against the wall. "Dammit."

"Look, Teresa," Jane said, standing up. "Even if Kara is related to the motive, the person who is doing this clearly doesn't want her to be hurt, or he'd be poisoning her, too."

"So someone wants Kara."

"Not necessarily," Jane said. Lisbon was really beginning to hate that phrase. "It could just mean that someone doesn't want _you_ to have Kara. _Clearly_ not anyone who knows how well you care for her," he added quickly. "But that's actually good news…"

Lisbon was ready to lash out at him, _why the Hell is that good news, Jane? _ but she understood, turning away from the consultant. "Because that means that no one is going to hurt her."

She sighed, then looked back at Jane. "We have to figure this out fast."


	12. No Way Out

**Sorry it's been a bit of a wait since the update, I was updating Blood Trail and publishing Red Tool – feel free to check those out if you like and haven't already. : )**

**I still don't own anything.**

Jane left at about four in the morning, making Lisbon promise that she'd get some sleep. She promised, knowing that it wouldn't happen. When she wandered outside around six, she was surprised to find Jane curled up on the step. "Jane?"

He didn't answer her. She kicked him in the back. "_Jane_!"

"Ow!" He protested, sitting up and reaching around to put a hand on his back. "What was that for?"

"I didn't kick you that hard," she said. "What are you doing?"

"I _was_ sleeping," Jane said.

"In front of my door?"

"Well, it was a nice night!"

She sighed, opening the door and standing to the side. "Come in."

"Have you heard on Tommy?" Jane asked her as he entered her apartment and brushed off his suit.

Lisbon shook her head. "But…but no news is good news, right?"

"Well, it means he's probably still alive," Jane said. "That's something, at least."

Lisbon nodded. "You're right." She swallowed. "It's something." She pulled out her phone. It was off. Her heart started racing. Why had she turned it off? Why hadn't she noticed before? What if…what if she'd missed the phone call she was so hoping hadn't come?

"Oh God…" she said, pressing the button frantically and holding the phone almost at arm's length as it booted up. Nothing but a blank screen…and then one, two missed calls. And a voice message. Lisbon dialed voicemail and held the phone to her ear, knowing that she was shaking.

_Hi, Aunt Teresa, _said the voice that came over the voice mail. _It's Annie. Dad got out of surgery fine…it's five thirty right now, they said I can see him in a few minutes. I'll keep you updated and let you know when it'll be worth flying out to visit. Love you, bye._

Lisbon's hand fell from the side of her head and she dropped onto the couch, putting her head in her hands and letting out a shaky sigh of relief. "He's okay," she said to Jane. "Tommy made it out of surgery."

"See that?" Jane said, coming over and tapping her on the head. "Nothing to worry about. He's going to be okay. Now we just have to worry about who is trying to hurt _you_."

Lisbon nodded. "Well…" she trailed off at a beep at her phone. A new voice mail. She hit the 'listen' button and waited.

_Boss! Boss, I really need you to answer your phone, listen, just a few minutes ago, Sarah thought she heard something down the hall. We figured it was just Kara getting up, but a few minutes later, the baby started crying. We went down to find out what was wrong…_

"Lisbon?" she thought she heard Jane say. He might not have spoken. He sounded far away, like he was talking to her through water. But she couldn't have imagined him talking. So he must have.

And then there was his voice again. "Lisbon! Lisbon, you're whiter than a ghost." She thought she felt hands on her shoulders. She wasn't sure. They felt numb along with the rest of her body. She thought she saw Jane's face in front of her. He must have knelt down in front of her.

* * *

Jane cocked his head as he looked at her. She was looking right through him, her hand, still holding the phone up to her ear, was shaking, and she had gone stark white in a matter of seconds. He didn't know what was wrong, and he couldn't unless he got through to her. He tried another approach. "Reese."

The name used only by Tommy, Annie, and Kara jolted her out of her frozen state, and she looked at Jane for a moment as if she'd never seen him before. Then, recognition came over her face. "Jane."

Her voice sounded as if she wasn't getting enough air, that hollow voice that she used when she wasn't sure. Tears came into her eyes, and she looked at him like a wounded animal that just wanted help. But he still didn't know how he could do that.

"Teresa, breathe. In…out…in…out…" he said, trying to keep his voice steady. He was beginning to suspect that this phone call had nothing to do with Tommy. She'd just found out he was doing okay, after all. Jane's face lightened a few shades itself when he realized that only one other person could cause Lisbon this much distress.

Her next words confirmed his suspicions. "Kara's missing," she said, putting a hand to her mouth and narrowing her eyes in a futile attempt to keep the tears in. This time, she didn't hesitate to accept his silent offer of an embrace; she leaned forward and he felt her forehead against the top of his shoulder.

Jane's mind raced as he tried to work out exactly what could have happened. Whoever was after Lisbon was after Kara as well, this just about proved it. But he, she, or they couldn't be after her in the same way they were after her older cousin; there were no symptoms of arsenic poisoning in the girl. But how in the world did the person know that Kara was staying the night with Rigsby, Sarah, and little Ben?

Whoever it was, Jane decided, had to be someone who didn't know Lisbon, or Kara, from their personal lives. It wouldn't be someone who had known Kara back in the northern part of the state. The perpetrator had some sort of CBI affiliation. He or she either worked there, knew someone who did, had been arrested by Lisbon, or knew someone who had been. It was the only explanation.

Jane shifted his weight slightly; he was on his knees and had spent the past several hours lying on concrete; now he had Lisbon leaning into him and shaking like she had hypothermia. It was probably shock.

"Okay, Agent Lisbon," he said, shifting his weight again so he could stand up, taking her by the arms and laying her on the floor in front of the chair. He grabbed a seat cushion, picked up her feet, and set them on top of it, and then grabbed the blanket she'd been wrapped up in the night before and laid it over her.

"I'm not in shock," Lisbon said quietly, her hands over her face.

"Yes, you are," Jane said.

"No, I'm not, dammit," she said ripping the blanket off and pulling herself to her feet. "I knew something like this would happen, I knew I wasn't in a position to take care of that girl…"

"Okay," Jane said, still trying to keep his voice level. "Teresa, I just need you to keep calm, and…"

"The Hell with you," Lisbon said. "Just…just shut up."

Jane knew that someone this emotionally unstable needed to be encouraged with kindness and patience, but what Lisbon was doing was all too familiar, a shot too close to home, too personal for him to be able to control himself. When it came to topics involving children, and mistakes, and grief, he was like an addicted gambler. He couldn't stop himself from pushing farther, taking another hit. Sometimes he went to far and ended up in trouble with Lisbon, the law, or the CBI. But he counted cards, Lisbon was a deck that he knew well, and he had a feeling that he could get through to her.

"No," he said firmly, taking her by the shoulders and staring at her. She looked away. "No, look at me!" he demanded. She finally listened. "Stop blaming yourself. You don't know the whole story."

"I know enough," she said, the look in her eyes a cross between a rabid animal and an unwanted pet that was ready to give up.

"No, you don't know a damn thing," Jane said. He was taking a gamble. He was a fifteen on the blackjack table. He said _hit me. _"Maybe she went outside to play, and they'll find her in a few minutes. Maybe someone took her. But that doesn't mean she's not alive. It doesn't mean they won't ask for a ransom." His voice lowered slightly. "My wife and daughter died because of something I did. I found their bodies. I saw the note. I blame myself because it's all said and done and I know I'm the reason they died." He pressed his lips together before continuing. "You don't know a damn thing, Lisbon. You can't skip to the blaming yourself part. There's no time for that. Do you understand me?"

Instead of shouting back at him, instead of melting into an unstable mess that came from being yelled at when this unwound, she held his gaze, blinked, and then bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah," she said, nodding and licking her upper lip to clear away the tear that had dropped from her nose. Her nodding became firmer. "Yeah. We can't waste any time." She glanced down at her phone. "Van Pelt and Cho are on their way to Rigsby's now. We should go too."

She went to the chair and grabbed her jacket, putting it on in silence. Then she looked over and Jane and offered him a small smile. "Thanks."

_And a six means twenty one._

Jane thought of all the times she'd saved him, brought him back from the edge and the pit of darkness he would have plunged into had she not known his deck of cards as well as he knew hers. He wanted to joke about how he would like to say they were even, or even that she owed him one, but to be quiet honest, he had lost track of who was ahead of who in that department.

So he settled for giving her a smile and saying, "I'll drive."

"You drive way too…" she started, and then trailed off. "Ah, yes. You drive."


	13. She Loves You

**New update posted in between classes! Love being busy, but it means I have to be really efficient in my writing. Hope you enjoy it! I still don't own anything but the character I created.**

The drive to Rigsby and Sarah's place was relatively short, but to Lisbon, it took forever. Eyes closed, hand curled around her cross, she prayed, mumbling along with the words, remembering the last time that she'd been doing this and letting Jane drive. She didn't like it when Jane drove, but she supposed when she or someone close to her was in danger it only added to the ambience.

Kara, Kara, Kara. Being able to keep her in her home and a part of her family was the last thing from Lisbon's thoughts now. Finding her alive was her top priority, getting to hug her again and feel the warmth from her body, assurance that she was okay, before she was taken and placed into another foster home, with someone who didn't have such a dangerous job. Lisbon would find a way to accept that if she could only find the girl alive.

The end of her prayer caught in her throat, and her voice faltered. Jane glanced over at her. "Eyes on the road," she said automatically, taking in a long breath and tipping her head back.

"It's going to be okay," he offered.

That didn't comfort her.

* * *

"Boss," Rigsby said, rushing out of the house and coming to an awkward stop in front of her. "Boss, I am…_so sorry_…"

"Yeah, well sorrow isn't going to bring her back," Lisbon snapped. "Where are Cho and Van Pelt?"

"They just got here," Rigsby said. "They're inside talking to Sarah." He hesitated. "Boss…"

"We'll talk later," Lisbon said, moving past him. "Come on, Jane."

Upon entering the house, Lisbon saw Van Pelt and Cho standing in front of Sarah, who was sitting on the couch, looking guilt ridden and tired. "We saw no signs…no one around the windows or at the door. I-I-don't understand how this could have happened. We didn't hear any crying or screaming."

They still hadn't seen Lisbon. She stepped to the side to let Jane by, into the kitchen.

"What was Kara like last night?" Van Pelt asked. "Was she nervous, upset…?

"Ah…" Sarah said, shaking her head as if she couldn't remember.

"Dammit Sarah, answer her!" Lisbon snapped, barging toward them, eyes flashing.

"Boss," Cho said, turning around and holding out a hand. "You're not supposed to be working this case."

"Says who?" Lisbon asked.

"Says…the rules…" Van Pelt offered quietly.

"You're working it," Lisbon said. "It's your boss's child, that's not too personal?"

"We got permission from Bertram to handle this," Cho said, "on the condition that you don't aid us in any other way than you would if you were any citizen of this relationship to Kara. I'm in charge of this matter."

Lisbon stared at him for a moment, and then nodded. She supposed that was already bending the rules enough. "Fair," she said, nodding again and trying to stop her voice from catching.

"Sarah," Van Pelt said again, gently, "what was Kara's demeanor last night?"

Sarah shrugged. "She was happy. We took her and Ben to the playground, they had fun. We brought them back here and had spaghetti…she talked about you quite a bit, Agent Lisbon," she added, and Lisbon turned from looking blindly off to the side to focusing on the seated woman. "She loves you a lot."

Lisbon wanted to respond, but she couldn't. She just stared.

"We're going to get her back for you, boss," Van Pelt said softly. She cocked her head and gave a small smile. "We were taught well, we're pretty good at what we do."

Lisbon managed a small smile. "Thank you, Grace."

"I must say," Jane said, waltzing into the room with a cup in his hand. "Sarah, you have a very good taste in tea, this is…" he stopped to take a drink. "This is quality."

Sarah pressed her lips together in a somewhat failed effort to smile. "I'm glad you think so."

Rigsby entered the room. "We have a team dusting for prints and looking for fibers outside the window and in the bedroom," he said. "And we've sent out an Amber Alert." He sighed. "Let's just hope we get a lot of tips."

Lisbon pulled Jane into the kitchen. "What do you know?"

He took another drink of tea and looked inside the cup. "Well, all the time periods, the rivers of the world by size…"

"I mean about this," she said. God, she didn't need his smartassery right now. "What are they missing? What extra details have you figured out?"

"Oh," Jane said. "Well, she wasn't taken in the dead of night, meaning something either prevented the kidnapper from getting here or he needed it to be close to morning when he took her. Traffic jam, store hours, something like that. She must have been taken from the window, it was open, and no one heard anything. She didn't scream; she didn't cry."

"She must have had something covering her face."

"No signs of a struggle," Jane said.

Lisbon cocked her head. "How do you know that?"

"Agent Van Pelt said so, back in the living room. You must have spaced out, here," he said, holding out his cup. "Have some tea."

Lisbon sighed heavily, eyeing the cup and wanting to protest for some reason, but she couldn't think of anything to say and didn't feel like being difficult just for the sake of being difficult. She took it from him and took a drink. He was right; it was good tea. "So what does that mean?"

"Well," Jane said, both of them momentarily distracted by Ben wandering into the kitchen. Jane took a mild verbal detour to great him. "It means that, hello there, she knew her kidnapper, or…" he paused again, bending to pull Ben's hands away from his mouth. "What are you doing?" he asked the boy. "Don't eat paper, that's just…Lisbon!" he said, not quite a yell, but louder than he'd been talking.

She cocked her head in question, and he answered by un balling the paper that the toddler had had in his mouth. He made a face. "Uh, drool is just a…" he spread the paper out on the table.

Lisbon moved closer to him, setting the mug on the countertop as she read the faint words scribbled in pencil. Not Ben's unintelligible 'writing', not Kara's slow, purposeful hand, and not the writing of anyone she recognized. But the message was very clear.

_Climb out the window at four a.m. Don't ask questions; don't tell anyone. Or your cousin dies._

"Cho!" Lisbon shouted, causing Jane to jump. "Van Pelt! Rigsby!"

The three agents ran into the room and stared down at the paper. After a long time, they chanced looking at one another.

_She went willingly._

"Well, this changes things," Cho said, letting out a sigh.

"Yeah," Van Pelt said. "We can't expect a ransom for Kara. It appears that she was a ransom for Lisbon."

"A willing ransom," Jane said, his voice sounding heavy. He shoved his hands in his pockets, biting his lower lip. "A brave one. She's a Lisbon, all right." He looked over at the senior agent. "She really does love you."

Lisbon swallowed, hating that she was about to crack in front of her team. "I never expected to wish that someone I love wouldn't love me just as much," she said, her voice cracking. She looked down to recover, and then back up at Cho and Van Pelt. "You guys find her. Do anything you have to to get her back. That includes offering me to whoever took her."

Cho and Van Pelt looked at each other. The Cho turned back to Lisbon and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not going to come to that, boss."


	14. The Way I Do

**Sorry it's been a week since I've updated, everyone! I'm a few chapters before the end of the fic, hope everyone is still enjoying it!**

By the end of the hour, Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt were readying themselves to leave the house. Lisbon, trying to behave and not get involved, sat on the porch steps, picking a flower and pulling off the petals.

"He loves you, he loves you not?" Jane joked, coming to sit next to her.

She looked at him, confused. "What?"

He shook his head, looking down at the ground. "Nothing." Glancing back over at her, he let his gaze fall on the rest of the team, gathered around the car in discussion of what to do next. "They're good people, Lisbon," he said. "You know that. CBI boasts about having them."

"What if they _don't_ find her, Jane?" she said, feeling the tears come again and willing them to stay in her eyes. A few didn't listen to her will; she wiped them away with her hand. "What if…" she shook her head, those damn tears didn't want to stay. She wasn't used to this, to feeling this way, to reacting this way, especially not to doing any of _this _in front of _other people._ "You're strong now, you know that?" her old fiancé had said to her when she'd met up with him again years later. "You didn't used to be so strong."

She certainly wasn't feeling strong right now.

"They'll find her," Jane said.

"Why aren't you going with them?" she asked. "You can help."

"They're not going any place I can be of help," Jane said. "My job is to make you calm down."

"I can't calm down," she said. "I can't. That little girl is off somewhere with people who are probably going to hurt her. She's alone, and she's scared, and I'm supposed to be the one who protects her." She looked at Jane. "So many times over the years I've found myself wishing…wishing that maybe my life had gone a little differently, and wishing that I had had a baby. But I never did." She shook her head. "It's like…not only is Kara disappearing terrifying and heartbreaking, and not only am I scared sick about her…it's like a slap in the face. Like _see? You're not her mother._" She shook her head. "That probably doesn't even make any sense, but it's what I'm feeling. Like somehow, if she had been mine, she wouldn't have been taken from me." Lisbon put her head in her hands. "But I can't even entertain that thought for any amount of time because I just go back to worrying. I love that little girl so much…" her voice cracked again.

"You love her," she heard Jane say. "You love her in a way that you've never loved anyone before in your entire life."

He wasn't saying it like a question, but she nodded anyway.

"You provide for her, you sing her to sleep, When you think of going somewhere not work related, you imagine her going with you. She confides in you, and, when appropriate, you confide in her. Am I correct in all of these things?"

Lisbon looked at him, giving a small nod. "Yes."

Jane held her gaze. "And you'd die for her, isn't that what you told Cho and Rigsby and Van Pelt?"

Lisbon nodded again. "In a second. Without a second thought."

Jane paused, then gave her a small smile. "Well then," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Congratulations. You're a mother."

He stood up and walked back into the house. Lisbon watched him go, his words slowly sinking in.

* * *

"Jane!" Lisbon shouted, running into the house.

Sarah still sat on the couch, looking as upset as she had when Lisbon had rushed in there and yelled at her earlier. "He's down in the bedroom," she said quietly. Lisbon took off down the hall without thanking her.

When she reached the room, with it's open window and the messed up blankets where Kara had slept for most of the night, she froze. This was where it had happened. She cleared her throat and locked it down.

Jane was staring at the window, but he rotated to see her. "Lisbon," he said.

"I figured out something," she said. "It's right. I think it's right…I mean…wh-what do you think?"

Jane cocked his head. "You'll have to share this idea first," he reminded her.

Lisbon shook her head. "Right. The note. It said '_Climb out the window at four a.m. Don't ask questions; don't tell anyone. Or your cousin dies._' Right? Four a.m. But the sounds were heard around the house, the dog started barking, all of that, that was at seven. Three hours later."

The look on Jane's face was a mix of pride and dawning, so Lisbon suspected that he had either just figured out the same thing or was in the process of coming to that conclusion when she had burst through the door to tell him. "That's why the dog didn't bark at four. That's why Ben didn't cry. Because no one was here that they didn't already know."

"The guy was late," Jane said. "Like we'd suggested, why he picked such a time to abduct. He was running behind. Kara was out the window three hours before anyone came to get her."

"Meaning," Lisbon said, "she could have run. She could have seized the opportunity to get away. But…" she frowned. "She was doing that to protect me. If the person doesn't have her…"

"You're probably still safe," Jane said.

"I'm not as concerned about me right now," Lisbon said.

"I know," Jane said. "That's why Cho told me to take care of you while they work on taking care of Kara."

"You take care of me," she said, raising an eyebrow. "The consultant take care of the cop."

"The consultant helps the cop think like the consultant," Jane said, tapping the side of her head with a finger. "The consultant also drives fast."

"The cop would like to know the consultant's point," she said, raising both eyebrows.

"We're going to drive around the area," Jane said. "We're going to figure out where she could be hiding, how far she could travel in a few hours, and where she might have thought to go. And we'll wait for Cho to call with leads. But until then, we're just driving around looking for her. Any concerned parent would do that. It's not breaking any laws. Come on." He walked past her out of the room.

Lisbon followed him out to the car and jumped in the passenger side. Jane started the engine. "Cop and consultant," he said, backing the car out of the driveway and making a left. "Reporting for duty."


	15. Always There

**I realized I often say "new chapter!" I apologize. Of course you guys know it's a new chapter. XD Anyway, here we go, there will be one or two more after this, there's still some stuff to work through before the end, but we're close.**

**And don't forget to follow me on Twitter, WBTP_Fanfiction! : )**

"Okay," Jane said as the flew down the road. "Where would she go?"

"I don't know," Lisbon said. "She doesn't know this area very well. The park, the place Pony Jane lives…"

"Ah, the pony," Jane said, smiling. "Cute and sooo annoying."

"Yeah," Lisbon said fondly. Then she realized who it was that was saying that. "No!" She looked over at him. "Kara told you!"

Jane just kept smiling. "I don't think who told me is all that important right now." He put on the brakes and pulled the car to the right. Lisbon put her hand on the door to steady herself. "What was that for?"

"I almost missed the entrance to the park," he said, pulling over near the playground and unlocking the doors. Lisbon exited the vehicle and ran toward the play scape. "Kara!" she shouted, running around it, desperate to see the little girl hiding in the structure because she was all too aware of the possibility that the kidnapper/killer/whoever he or she was had already found the girl. "_Kara!_"

She wasn't there. Lisbon ran to the pond a hundred yards away, circling it, looking for anything in the water and grateful that she hadn't found anything. Feeling slightly winded, she jogged back to the car. Jane was still inside, leaving it running so they could immediately rush off to the other place.

"_Nothing_," Lisbon said, sounding wounded, as she put her seat belt back on.

"It's okay," Jane said. "We're looking; that's all we can do. Let's go to the other place. The farm?"

Lisbon nodded, curling her fingers around the cross again. She heard Jane get on the phone with Cho and say they'd found nothing at the park, and when he hung up, she looked to him for a relay.

"Not much new," he said. "They've got one possible lead they're looking into now."

Upon reaching Pony Jane's home, she jumped out of the car and ran past the old man's house to the pasture. Pony Jane wasn't anywhere to be seen. Lisbon burst into a run, so desperate to get over the hill she couldn't have told anyone in that moment if she had opened the gate and gone through it or if she'd hauled herself over the fence. She reached the top of the hill and scanned the Southernmost quarter of the field. No Pony Jane.

She turned to head back and caught sight of the run in shed that the pony used for shelter. She could see the plump shape of the equine standing inside. _Why didn't I think of looking in there?_ She thought to herself, picking up a jog again.

Pony Jane looked up as she approached, lifting his head a bit higher than normal and taking a step backward, uncertain as to why he was being run at. Lisbon slowed down.

"Reesa!"

Lisbon almost fell over at the voice, she wasn't really expecting to ever hear it again, and this place was such a wild guess… her eyes darted around the shed, her throat choking up instantly when she saw the little girl climb out from behind the water trough.

She dropped to her knees and held out her arms as Kara came into them. She felt the seven year old's arms wrap around her neck and squeeze, her head burrowing into her cousin's shoulder. Lisbon put a hand on the back of the girl's head, holding it there, and used her other arm to hold Kara close to her.

Lisbon pulled back after a moment and put her hands on the girl's face. "What happened? Who talked to you?"

Kara wiped her eyes. Then she looked back at Lisbon. A look of horror came over her face.

* * *

Lisbon opened her eyes and was greeted by a tessellation of plain ceiling tiles and a very distinctive _clean_ smell. She was in a hospital.

She shifted her weight and winced. Her head hurt, like she'd fallen and hit it on something. But she couldn't remember doing that. She was in the run in shed, holding Kara…

The memory returned to her in such a stark fashion that she felt her whole body jerk.

"Whoa, whoa! Boss, calm down." It was Rigsby's voice. "You're in the hospital," he said. "Calm down."

Lisbon turned her head toward the voice. He was sitting in a chair next to her bed, a hand on the edge of it. "Rigsby?" she said. "Where's Kara?"

"She's fine," he told her, nodding. "Jane took her for food."

Lisbon made a face. "The cafeteria in this place is nasty."

Rigsby smiled. "They're not in the cafeteria; he took her to the fruit stand."

Lisbon smiled at that. "That's nice of him."

"They should be back soon," he added. "They've been gone for close to an hour."

Lisbon swallowed. "Why am I here?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Lisbon closed her eyes. It was easier to think that way. "Jane and I…found Kara. I hugged her. I asked her about why she'd run…she looked scared…I…" she trailed off. "I don't remember any more."

"Hey hey!" came a cheerful voice from the door. "Look who's awake."

Lisbon looked over toward the door. Jane walked inside just behind Kara, both of them holding Styrofoam cups. "Hey," she said, a smile coming over her face.

"Reesa!" Kara shrieked, running over and jumping onto the bed.

"Careful!" Rigsby said, standing up as if to pull Kara off the bed if necessary.

"She's fine," Lisbon said, shifting her weight to give Kara room to sit next to her, the little girl's legs tucked up underneath her. Lisbon looked over at Jane and raised her eyebrows. "Ice cream? I thought you were taking her to get actual food."

"She had some strawberries!" Jane protested. "Ice Cream is good for the soul."

"Ha-ha," Lisbon said, trying not to smile. She looked back at Kara. "How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm good," Kara said. "I'm glad you found me."

"I'm glad I found you, too," Lisbon said, tapping the girl on the nose. She looked back at Jane. "What happened? Did I black out, what…?"

She saw Jane and Rigsby exchange a look. "Kara," Rigsby said, "I'm going to go buy Teresa a get well soon teddy bear, now that she's awake to see it. Do you want to come and help me pick it out?"

"Sure thing, Uncle Wayne," she said, sliding off the bed and smiling.

Lisbon frowned, looking over at Rigsby. He lifted his hands as if to say _I don't know where that came from._ Then he smiled over at the little girl, and the two of them exited her hospital room.

Jane watched them go, and then came over and sat next to her. "Kara saw someone coming up behind you. You were hit in the back of the head with a piece of wood and it knocked you out for a second. Kara rushed the man, he knocked her into the side of the stall and took the wind right out of her. That's when I came running up and saw him forcing water down your throat. You started to choke and I yelled out to him to stop. He jumped up from your body and pulled out a gun, which he pointed at me. Then Agent Cho and Agent Van Pelt jumped out from behind the shed with guns, and Agent Rigsby came over and began giving you medical attention.

"How were they even there?" Lisbon asked, looking confused again.

"They were on their way to a gas station that had had an employee report a suspicious, nervous man in their store about six thirty, kept muttering about being late. They saw my empty car and took off after us. Good thing they did."

Being told so much about what had happened helped bring some memory back into Lisbon's mind. She recalled feeling hot, sweaty, her head pounding and her lungs not wanting to work properly, her stomach wanting to vomit but not being able to with her on her back. "Arsenic?"

Jane nodded. "We found the package of it. It appears that he spilled some in his rush to make the poison water. As it was, it was almost a lethal amount that he gave you."

"Is someone in custody?" Lisbon asked.

Jane shook his head. "He pointed his gun at your body, and Van Pelt and Cho emptied their clips into him. He's a lead stuffed corpse in the morgue."

Lisbon felt dizzy, and closed her eyes to stabilize herself. "Kara wasn't injured in the…"

Jane shook his head. "No. She just got the wind knocked out of her. And I planted a suggestion. She doesn't remember the showdown."

"You didn't plant anything for her to forget everything?" Lisbon asked.

"You two bonded over that," Jane said. "I won't damage your love for each other by removing all of the memory."

"Oh," Lisbon said, nodding slightly. "Thank you." She thought a moment, and then looked back at Jane. "One more question."

"Mmmhmm."

"Why is Kara calling Rigsby 'Uncle Wayne'?"

Jane shrugged. "I suppose she understand that we're always there for one another, always ready to help and ready to comfort." Jane shrugged. "We're all family, and she recognizes that. Which would make them Uncle Wayne, Auntie Grace, and Uncle Cho."

"Uncle Cho," Lisbon said, feeling amused. "Not Uncle Kimball?"

"Uncle Cho," Jane confirmed, smiling himself. Lisbon couldn't tell if he was amused or if he just noticed that she was amused.

"That's sweet," she said. "Well…now that whoever was trying to kill me is dead, I suppose I'll have to prepare for child services taking her away."

"That's not going to happen," Jane said firmly.

Lisbon shook her head slowly. "Jane…"

"I mean it," he said. "It's not."

"Okay," she said, offering him a small smile. "Have a little faith, right?"

Jane's phone buzzed, and he removed it from his pocket and looked at the screen. A small smile come over his face. He looked back at the woman in the bed and grinned. "Yep. Have a little faith."

**We are going to find out who the guy was, just so you guys know. And we'll find out if/how Lisbon and Kara can stay a family. Don't forget how much I love reviews! :D**


	16. Baby Girl

**I'm sure most of you will be watching the Emmys and won't get this chapter read until after, so I won't waste time telling you all to enjoy watching them. Instead, I have chosen to waste time typing that all up when all I really need to say is "as usual, I do not own anything."**

**Enjoy!**

"Hi, Reese," Kara said, entering Lisbon's hospital room just in front of Rigsby.

Lisbon smiled at the little girl. "Hey, sweetheart."

"I'll leave you two," Rigsby said, standing the doorway and giving his boss a smile.

"Rigs," Lisbon said as he exited the room. He stuck his head back in. "Yeah?"

"I need to apologize for being cross with you earlier…or whenever it was," she said. "None of this was your fault. You didn't deserve my words."

Rigsby gave her a small smile. "I appreciate it, boss."

"Tell Sarah," she said. "I'll talk to her too, the next time I see her."

When Rigsby had gone, Kara climbed up onto Lisbon's bed and laid so her upper body was on her cousin's stomach. She smiled. "I'm glad you're okay."

Lisbon put a hand on the little girl's back and used the other one to touch her pointer finger to her nose. "And I'm glad _you're _okay, too." She shifted her weight so she could better give Kara a hug. "You were so brave," she told her. "I'm prouder of you than I would have thought possible."

Kara's smile at that made Lisbon tear up. "Don't cry, Reesa," she said, reaching a small hand up to touch a tear where it was resting on her cousin's cheek. The girl wiggled a bit farther up the bed and laid her head down on Lisbon's chest, letting her arms go around her cousin in a sleepy hug.

Lisbon put a hand on the top of Kara's head. "I love you so much," she whispered.

* * *

"Hello," came a quiet voice.

Jane and Van Pelt were sitting on a bench a few yards down the hall from Lisbon's room. For a moment, neither of them responded to the quiet girl; they didn't realize she was talking to them. But upon the word being repeated, Van Pelt looked up from her book and Jane opened his eyes.

"Hi," Van Pelt said, cocking her head and assuming the hesitant yet maternal tone that she often used around minors. "Who are you?"

The girl bit her lip and looked down the hall. "Katie Wheeler."

"Katie Wheeler…" Van Pelt looked over at Jane, unsure of where she'd heard the name before.

"Katie," Jane said. "Katie Wheeler." He smiled. "How are you, Katie?"

She gave a nod. "I'm well," she said, clasping her hands in front of her. "Thank you."

"Katie Wheeler was William McTier's last victim," Jane whispered to Van Pelt. He saw the recognition flash in her eyes. The serial rapist whose murder Lisbon had been a prime suspect in. The angry father who blamed Lisbon and Bosco for his daughter's rape because they hadn't picked up McTier the week before. And now, Katie Wheeler, the daughter, stood before them, a somewhat pale, but pretty, brunette in a light blue dress that fell just below her knees.

"How can we help you?" Van Pelt said.

Katie took in a breath and then let it out. "Actually, it's more…more me helping you." She took another step toward them. "I have something of a statement." She swallowed. "The man that you have in your morgue is Calvin Broderick. I started seeing his younger brother about six months ago. The brother is my age, Calvin is ten years older."

"Okay," Van Pelt said, nodding, encouraging her to go on.

"Rory, the younger brother, I've known him since about two months into therapy," Katie said, not specifying what therapy. She didn't need to. "We were kinda the whole 'first crush' thing. Calvin worked for my dad at the time, and he knew about…everything. Including my father blaming Agent Lisbon for what happened to me. It infuriated him…" she made an uncomfortable face. "Calvin put his energy into hating Agent Lisbon. He was big into the whole blame and justice thing, and he didn't trust law enforcement at all. My history just gave him further reason not to, and since I was someone he knew, his rage was…exaggerated. When he found out that Agent Lisbon had been given custody of a child, he became really angry. He talked about how she didn't even deserve to be alive, much less have the responsibility for taking care of a little child."

"So he targeted Agent Lisbon and Kara." Van Pelt said.

Katie looked uncomfortable. "My…my dad doesn't know that I'm here…"

"It's okay," Jane said. "You're right for telling us this."

She nodded. "Look, he wrote a letter…Rory found it in his room. I can come to the CBI and turn it over, it…it explains everything in more detail." She looked down at the door to Jane and Van Pelt's left. "Is Agent Lisbon in there?"

"She is," Jane said, nodding.

"Would…would you tell her that I'm sorry this all happened?" Katie asked. "I've made peace with my childhood, the last thing that I want is for other people to suffer because of it. Especially a little kid like the one she's taking care of."

"We will," Van Pelt said, nodding. "We will."

"Thank you very much for talking with us," Jane said. "Do you need any money to get home?"

Katie shook her head. "I can walk. Thank you."

When she had gone, Van Pelt let out a heavy sigh. "Wow."

Jane nodded, looking somber. "I know." He shook his head. "Well, I guess it's time to look at the bright side, I guess."

Van Pelt furrowed her brow. "What bright side?"

"The girl's statement, we can ask her to repeat it officially down at the station. We'll have the letter. The man trying to kill Lisbon is dead."

Van Pelt understood. "Her chances of keeping Kara just got a lot better, didn't they?"

"Better than they were this morning, at least," Jane replied.


	17. Welcome

**And here is the final chapter of "Fire of Unknown Origin," titled "Welcome" after the song in Brother Bear. I felt it was relevant to the chapter in more ways than just the title. I had a great time writing this fic and I sincerely hope that you all enjoyed reading it. I know this chapter is kinda long, sorry!**

**This chapter, in which I own nothing but Kara, is dedicated to Phoenix.**

"Katie Wheeler?" Lisbon said, incredulous. "Dryer's daughter?"

"Unbelievable, I know," Jane said. "But it's true. She's downtown with Cho and Rigsby right now, making a sworn statement on Calvin's actions and giving them his confession letter."

Lisbon exhaled through pursed lips, still unable to totally believe it. "I never thought it would turn out to be something like this."

"Well, look at the bright side," Jane said, smiling at the little girl now asleep across her cousin's body. "This little gem is perfectly fine, and you'll be recovered in a few days, good as new."

"Yeah," Lisbon said, putting her hand back in Kara's hair. "That's a relief, that is." She looked back up at Jane, concern in her eyes. "Have you heard from Tommy?"

"Annie called while you were napping," Jane said. "Tommy's doing just fine."

"Oh," Lisbon said, closing her eyes. "Thank God."

"She also told me to tell you that when Tommy's released from the hospital, he's going to go back to school. Can't risk the bounty hunting business anymore, he says. Can't leave Annie to fend for herself. She seemed caught between feeling indignant over him minimalizing her independence and the realization that she does still need him."

"You got all that from a phone call," Lisbon said, unable to stop herself from smirking in amusement.

Jane pointed at her, grinning. "I did." His smiled then softened, and he looked down at the hospital bed. "Look at you two."

Lisbon could feel her cheeks turning pink. "What?"

"You and her," Jane said. "All those loving interactions we've seen with everyone we've interacted with over the years, all that parental/child love you always lacked…" he pointed. "This is it," he said. "You're living it right now. And it feels good, doesn't it?"

Lisbon had to admit that Kara falling asleep hugging her made her more content than she'd been in years. "It does," she said, smiling up and Jane and giving a small nod.

Jane nodded back, his expression growing serious. "Hang on to that, Mother Teresa."

"I don't know if I can," she said, her voice growing serious, the rosy color slowly leaving her face as Jane turned to go. "I'm still going to have a Hell of a time convincing child services that I can provide her with a safe and reliable environment."

"Maybe not," Jane said, shrugging. "We do have Wheeler's testimony, the letter, and that proves that the man who was targeting you is dead. And in terms of safe and reliable…" Jane gestured toward the bed again. "I think that it's pretty impossible to argue that Kara feels safe."

"What about when she has a school schedule?" Lisbon said. "I can't just drop whatever I'm doing to make sure she gets to and from school."

"That might be where I come in," said a voice.

Lisbon looked over at the door. "Annabeth! She said, shifting her weight slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"My dad's stable," she said, "and I thought since you weren't healthy enough to come to us, I'd have to come and visit you."

"Well, come over here, sweetheart," Lisbon said, smiling as her niece came over and kissed the top of her aunt's head.

"Hello, Kara," she whispered to the sleeping girl. "I'm your…some sort of relation. I'll tell you about it when you wake up."

Lisbon smiled. "How is he, Annie?"

"A lot better," Annie said. They said he could be released by the end of the week. He'll be able to return to work in less than a month, though…" she looked over at Jane. "I'm sure Patrick told you that he's going back to school."

"He did," Lisbon said. "Which I admit, is a huge relief to me."

"He's just doing it for me," Annie said. "Says he needs to be able to provide me with a future. His 'parental right' or something like that."

Lisbon nodded. Tommy was trying to overcompensate for Annie's grandfather. "So are you going to live with your mom while he does that?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "Like she'd want me." She said dryly. "I actually had a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Lisbon said. "Are we going to be business partners?"

Annie smiled. "No." She sat on the chair next to her aunt's bed. "Now I've run the basic idea by my dad, and he's on board, but only because it was my idea and not yours."

"That makes me feel good," Lisbon said.

"No, I mean, like, it's not charity." Annie slapped her knees nervously. "Okay, so you know how I want to be a cop, right?"

"Still?"

"That's exactly what your brother said," Annie said. "But yes, I do. I want to be a cop, my dad isn't going to be making enough money to support us while he's in school, and Patrick is looking for someone to keep his yard tidy…"

"You are?" Lisbon asked, looking up at Jane.

He shrugged. "Fall's coming."

"And so I was thinking, if I came and lived with you for a while, I'd work for him turn the money over to you, so I wouldn't be a financial bother. If my dad signs the papers, I can do to the school in the local district, and that's _right by_ the elementary school, so I could walk Kara to and from the second grade."

Lisbon stared at her niece for what felt like a long time after Annie finished her speech. She seemed to have this plan all figured out… "how did you know the elementary school is right by the high school?"

Annie shrugged, but Lisbon had been around Jane too long. She saw Annie's tell; the slight glance toward the consultant. "Jane!" she said.

"What?" he asked. "This is a way that everything can work out. You'd trust Annie more than a random nanny; it would help your brother go to school without picking up dangerous jobs to put food on his daughter's plate, it wouldn't cost you anything, and it's be the perfect opportunity for Annie to learn about the life of a cop."

"Oh yeah," Annie said, nodding. "That was another bullet point. Cop experience."

Lisbon shook her head in disbelief. "The only concern I have is this arrangement means you two will be in close proximity for an extended amount of time."

"Don't worry, Aunt Reese," Annie said, holding up a wallet. "He's taught me plenty already."

Jane frowned and searched his pockets. Lisbon's jaw dropped and she let out a laugh. Her shaking chest roused Kara. "What is it?" the little girl asked, sitting up.

"Nothing, Kara," Lisbon said.

"Hi!" Kara said, noticing Annie.

"Hi," Annie said. "You must be Kara. I'm your…" she tried to figure it out and once again failed. "Teresa is my aunt."

"You have his wallet!" Kara noticed.

"I do," Annie said, grinning. "He taught me how to pick pockets. Did he teach you that too?"

"I'm too short to pick pockets," she said. "Unless Uncle Wayne is sitting down. He taught me how to read minds! Can I show you? We need cards."

"Sure!" Annie said. "They might have cards over in the kid's area." She took Kara by the hand and the younger girl slid off the bed.

"Don't you need a third person?" Jane reminded them.

"Oh, right," Kara frowned. "Oh! Aunt Grace is just outside."

"Think about my proposition!" Annie called over her shoulder as the two girls left.

"How does she do that card trick, anyway?" Lisbon asked.

"It's simple enough," Jane said. "The middle card is always the seven of clubs. Or the seven of any suit, really. Because the way the cards are laid out, in an H, is the same pattern as the pattern on the card. So when Kara left the room and you picked a card, she came back in and when I tapped the cards, I tapped the seven of clubs card at the spot on the card that would correspond to the spot on the overall picture – all the cards – that your card was located. It's easy to figure out if you look both at the close up puzzle and the picture that the puzzle formed. Patterns emerge. The shaky H shape on the seven of clubs, the H shape of the cards. Or the Lisbon women being so brave, no matter what the age or circumstances."

"You're comparing a card trick to my family?" Lisbon asked.

Jane shrugged. "Almost anything can be compared if you look at it the right way."

"Is that why you were so desperate to make this work out?" Lisbon asked.

"What?"

"Offering Annie a job, figuring out where schools by my house are located…" she shook her head. "You'd do anything to make sure I didn't lose my family, wouldn't you?"

"Well," Jane said, "We've worked together a long time. When you're unhappy, I am less happy. And I sort of have experience in that area." He shrugged. "You've been through a lot. You don't need to lose a child as well."

"Well," Lisbon said, giving him a small smile. "Thank you."

Jane nodded, and then a grin escaped him. "Think we can get Annie on the Aunt and Uncle thing, too?"

"Please tell me that's not your motivation," Lisbon said.

Jane shook his head. "Of course not. It's just a nice afterthought."

"That's not the way I'm looking at it," she said.

"Ah," Jane said. "Don't be so grumpy. You're a new mom."

"Don't jinx it!" Lisbon ordered.

"Lisbon, there is no such thing as a jinx," Jane said. "That's what people use instead of blaming themselves or others on their failures, and, as I have said already, your situation is looking great. All you needed was a way to get Kara to and from school, and now you have that?"

"Who says that's all I needed?" Lisbon asked. She cocked her head. "Jane…have you been in contact with social services?"

"Not me," Jane said. "I haven't been doing anything, it was…" he pointed outward. "It was them!"

"Cho, Rigsby, Van Pelt?"

"Okay, I wasn't supposed to tell you this," Jane said, "but Cho's been talking to them, and they told him that all things considered, all you really needed was a reliable way to get Kara to school and back, and you were as good as her guardian as long as you wished, and on a good road to adoption should you so desire. So, knowing that I am absolutely brilliant at these sorts of things…"

"Those were not his words," Lisbon said.

"Again, the way you look at things," Jane said, "it fell on me to make the situation happen. And that's what I did!"

Lisbon stared at him. "How long was I unconscious?"

* * *

Jane, Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt stood outside the building, Jane leaning up against the vehicle. "How long does this take?" Van Pelt asked.

"Considering they've spent six months making sure that everything was in order, I can't imagine much longer," Jane said, waving his hand at a fly that was resting on Cho's shoulder.

Cho didn't look very appreciative. "This last part doesn't take long at all," he said. "They could be out any minute."

"I still can't believe Lisbon's a mother," Van Pelt said. "Officially, I mean. Like…Kara's _hers_ now. She can't lose her."

Jane bit his lip slightly. "Not by the legal system, at least."

"There!" Rigsby said, pointing toward the door.

"Don't point," Cho said. "It's rude."

Van Pelt was just as excited. "I see them!"

Lisbon, Kara, and Annie walked toward them, the former two holding hands, the youngest skipping; the third waved when she saw the CBI team and Jane. Lisbon, more of a bounce in her walk than she'd had as long as any of them could remember her, was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey-hey!" Rigsby said. "If it isn't Kara Lisbon Lisbon!"

"That's not exactly how it works," the oldest Lisbon said, smiling and looking down at her daughter. "But basically."

"I'm so happy for you, boss," Van Pelt said, offering the older woman a hug.

"Thanks, Grace," Lisbon said, accepting the offer of an embrace. When the two women separated, Kara jumped forward to take Lisbon's place in Van Pelt's arms. The red head smiled.

Kara moved from Van Pelt to Rigsby and then Cho, hugging each of them while they congratulated her. Then she went over to Jane, and he scooped her up and spun in a circle. She shrieked and giggled and then hugged him, and then he set her down.

"Congratulations, boss," Cho said, nodding toward her. Rigsby echoed his words.

"Thanks," Lisbon said. "All of you. Really, I mean it." Her eyes rested on the consultant. "Jane, come here," she said, offering him a hug. He raised his eyebrows and stepped into her embrace. "You must really give me a lot of credit for this," he said, grinning.

"And, we're done," she said, backing out. Jane feigned hurt, and Annie and Kara giggled.

"You know, Annie," Rigsby said. "Now that Kara is officially your aunt's daughter, you know what you can call her."

"Yep," Annie said, grinning at the little girl. "We're cousins now, Kari."

Kara seemed less interested in that new dynamic than Annie was. "Can we go and get pizza now?" she asked Lisbon.

Lisbon smiled. "We sure can."

"Pizza, huh?" Jane said.

"Then they're off to see pony Jane," Annie said, "and I'll be to your house to work."

"Take the day off," Jane said. "You guys are in for a fun afternoon, be with your aunt and cousin."

"Are you sure?" Annie said.

"Take him up on it," Lisbon advised her niece.

Annie grinned. "Okay, then!"

Kara tugged on Lisbon's hand. "Yes?" she asked her.

"I was thinking," Kara said, looking up at her, "I'm your daughter now."

Lisbon smiled again, and the team exchanged looks. "You are," Lisbon said.

"So I should call you Mommy," Kara said.

"Kara," Lisbon said gently, dropping down to her knees and putting her hands on the girl's sides. "I told you. I'm perfectly fine with Reesa."

Kara cocked her head to her side. "Mama Reesa?"

"If that works for you," Lisbon told her.

"Okay," Kara said, leaning forward so she could hug her adoptive mother. Lisbon curled her arms around the girl and stood up. "You guys need to get back to work."

Rigsby smirked. "Yes, boss."

"I mean it," she said. "Bertram gave you a half day; if you're late to the CBI he'll have your heads. And then mine. And I can't take a threat like that lightly anymore." She smiled at them and then looked over at Annie. "C'mon."

"Bye guys," Annie said, waving to them as she turned to follow her aunt.

"Bye!" the team echoed as the Lisbons walked away. "She's right," Cho said. "We should probably get going."

"Yeah," Van Pelt said, watching them go. "It's good to see her so happy, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Rigsby said, nodding.

Jane was nodding too. "Deep down it's what she's wanted since she was a little girl," he said. "And now she has it."

"Shame about the circumstances, though," Rigsby said.

"Yeah," Cho agreed, getting into the driver's seat. "But things have a way of working out."

"Kara! Kara, stop!"

The team turned at Lisbon's sharp tone. Kara was running back across the parking lot, her head swiveling left and right on the lookout for cars. Lisbon and Annie were jogging behind her.

"Hey, hey," Van Pelt said, getting back out of the car. "You need to be careful."

"I looked both ways," Kara said, almost indignantly. "I had to give this back."

Jane blinked, getting out of the car and taking his wallet from the eight year old. "That's very good," he admitted. "I'm impressed."

"Kara, don't make me take away ice cream privileges," Lisbon said in a scolding tone as she and Annie caught up to her. "You should know better than to run across a parking lot."

"Oh, it's all right," Jane said. "She looked both ways."

"You guys need to stop ganging up on me," Lisbon said, raising an eyebrow at Kara. She grinned.

"Is everything okay?"

They turned to look at the owner of the strange voice, an older woman carrying a reusable shopping bag with a recycling symbol on it. "I saw you running after her," she said. "I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Everything's fine, ma'am," Lisbon said, putting her arm around Kara. "Just reminding her about her parking lot common sense."

The woman smiled understandingly and nodded, then looked at Kara. "Gosh," she said, looking back at Lisbon. "She looks just like you. Have a nice day." She lifted a hand in departure and continued across the parking lot.

Lisbon was blinking back tears again as she took Kara's hand. "Now, come with me," she said. "We have a pizza waiting for us."

**I must admit, in my original pre-writing for this fic, back when it was just an idea, it didn't have a happy ending. It ended up with Tommy (and in one version, Annie too) dead and Lisbon realizing that there was no way that she could keep Kara with her and sent her to another foster family. But as the idea for the fic was originally based off of conversations about what an awesome mother Lisbon would be if given the chance, I decided to alter my angst driven plans and give this fic a happy ending, since a fluff piece was my initial thought for a type of fic before it led to the pre-writing. Hope you enjoyed it, and I appreciate all of you who took the time to review!**

**Don't forget, if you don't mind AUs, I do have another WIP going now, "Blood Trail."**


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